Cradles in the sand
by Nova Alexandria
Summary: When Karin is tossed into a pit to be eaten by hollows as some sort of sick sport, she is surprised to discover the one chosen to eat her is familiar with her older brother. For Grimmjow, lunch becomes a rather unexpected ally.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, or make profit from this story.

Chapter 1

She was pushed and prodded down the sandstone corridor, her escort being non-to-gentle. Her body ached dully from the thrashing it had received during her capture. She was going to be covered in bruises in a few hours. They were going to suck, but were rather unlikely to kill her. She was just thankful none of her injuries were major.

 _Admittedly, it wasn't like it was hard for him to capture me,_ she thought sourly. _Bloody Quincy bastards. Their gripe is with Soul Society and shinigami. I don't see why they bothered to pay attention to a human like myself just defending herself and her friends from blood thirsty hollows. Bloody hypocrites,_ she growled to herself.

"Keep moving," the man behind her snarled, giving her another shove that almost sent her to her knees. She stumbled, but managed to recover before going down. She tugged at the ropes of energy binding her wrist behind her back, but the damn things moved with her motions and showed no sign of loosening or breaking.

"You push me one more time, and I am going to kick you so damn hard where the sun doesn't shine that your _decedents_ won't be able to have properly formed brats," she snarled at him, turning to give him a glare that gave him pause. No one knew how to glare like a Kurosaki. Tougher men than this one had quailed before that look.

The man recovered quickly, but only after clutching his spear and eyeing her bound wrists before laughing at her. "In a few minutes, you are going to be nothing more than a smear of blood on the sand," he taunted while giving her another push, causing her to stumble backwards.

 _I swear to Kami, if my hands were not tied behind my back, I would deck the bastard into the next century!_ The rest of her thoughts were far more violent and contained a fair bit of foul cursing that would have had Yuzu staring at her with that stern gaze that made even hardened men blush with embarrassment and duck their head meekly.

There was a growing commotion ahead of her as they moved down the plain, sandstone corridor. The sounds akin to ones she'd heard in the soccer stadiums she'd visited; back when life had been far less complicated. Unlike those cheers, these ones sounded blood thirsty to her ears for some reason. A rather impressive feat given how passionate some people took the sports. A bright light appeared at the end of the corridor she was being prodded along. The noise grew louder until it was almost deafening. She squinted her eyes as she was pushed through the doorway into what appeared to be a coliseum. The sun from above had no heat or weight to it and the 'sky' was too uniform of a colour for her to believe it was real. In fact, it reminded her very much of Kisuke's training grounds under his shop.

 _Fake roof. That would explain the light. I remember Ichi-nii and Orihime-chan commenting on the false sky of Las Noches. That explains how we went from the dark skies of Hueco Mundo to a suddenly sunlit coliseum. This can't be Las Noches though. Last I heard, Ichi-nii and the others still held that city and I am sure Ise-san would have mentioned it if they had lost it. A defeat that big couldn't be hidden, it would be betrayed by their posture and attitude. Orihime, in particular, really sucks at hiding things and Nel doesn't ever bother. The old man could take a lesson from her book,_ she thought sourly.

She was in a coliseum, one taken right from the pictures she'd seen in the chapters about the Roman Empire in her history books. The crowd was full of white clad Quincy wearing their uniforms interspaced with those wearing other colours; although they were all pale ones. Civilians most likely, or possibly other support units of the military such as cooks, blacksmiths, and the like. There was a large, shaded balcony across from her with the light falling in a manner that shrouded it in darkness; preventing her from seeing if it was occupied, let alone by whom.

"And for today's last form of entertainment; a spiritually aware human from Kurakara town. Let's see if she can last any longer than the black clad fools who still dare to oppose his Majesty's will."

She couldn't spot the announcer from her position, nor was it anywhere near the top of her list of concerns. The crowd roared as she was roughly shoved toward the edge of the pit and out onto a plank. All around the boarder she could see cell bars, but the artificial light from above cast the cages in shadow like the covered booth, making it impossible to see what was inside of them. With one more violent shove, she found herself flailing through the air into the pit. The restraints around her wrists vanished halfway down and she managed to land in a semi-roll so she didn't break her wrists or ankles upon impact with the fine, white sand. She felt her control over her reiatsu also vanish at the same time as the restraints, which was what truly pulled the foul curses out of her lips as she quickly scrambled to her feet and fell into the defensive stance Tatsuki had hammered into her over the last decade.

The sand in the pit was relatively clean, but there were a few wet spots she really didn't want to get close enough to examine. Several uneven spots had what looked like fresh bones sticking out, still glistening and bloodstained. The light was too bright to see what was in the cages, but she had a sickening feeling she was going to find out all too soon.

The sound of bars scraping against rock caused her to whip around to face the set that was slowly rising. Ignoring the minor aches she had acquired from both her capture and the fall, she shifted her defensive stance to face the oncoming threat and prayed she wasn't about to find herself facing down several man-eating lions or something.

 _Well, that isn't a lion, but close enough,_ she thought as the bone white feline, easily larger than any tiger she'd ever seen in a zoo, prowled out of its cage in a lazy manner and began to circle her. The hole going through its back assured her she was facing a hollow, and judging by the intelligent glint in its bright blue eyes, this was hardly some low-level hollow either. _Meaning I am probably facing an Adjucus. Fuck. Well if I have no reiatsu down here, then it probably doesn't either. That means no cero or hierro, so it's a matter of my fist and feet verses its razor-sharp claws and fangs. Oh yeah, this is going to end well,_ she thought sarcastically. Being sarcastic was the only way she was holding back her terror.

She shifted her footing to keep the stalking feline before her, studying it as it studied her. It seemed in no rush to attack her, at least not yet, and each step was solid and sure. She could detect no weaknesses or injuries she might be able to exploit.

 _What kind of feline is it anyhow? Not a lion and the shape isn't right enough to be a tiger or a cheetah. Jaguar or leopard perhaps? Not that there is much of a difference between the two save for which side of the ocean they ended up on._ The thought tugged something in her mind, but she lost the thought as the hollow finally charged at her. She leaped to the right and spun about, kicking it in the side and barely avoiding the flurry of claws and fangs as they passed each other. The crowd above them cheered and she wished she could spare a second to scowl hatefully up at them and tell them just what she thought about this disgusting display.

The two of them reset their stance and the circle stalking began anew. Several more times the jaguar-like hollow charged her. She earned a good number of cuts from those sharp claws, but at least she managed to keep its fangs away from her. The crowd cheered louder as her blood added more dark spots to the sand. The next pass had her catch sight of the hollow's sex as she rolled out of the way of the slashing claws.

 _Well, this is only slowing my inevitable death down,_ she thought sourly. _Why does he keep rotating in the same direction? No matter how each pass ends, he always stalks counter clockwise._

She shifted her weight and almost tripped as something under her foot rolled. The hollow charged the moment she was off balance. Instead of trying to regain her balance, she let herself fall and grabbed the round object, swinging it with all her strength to smash the bone across his face. She earned some minor lacerations on her legs, but the smash to his head must have made his eyes cross for he leaped away from her, but not before she managed to tear a ragged gash on his underbelly from the splintered end of her new weapon.

She scrambled to her feet and reset her stance the best she could with her stinging legs while her opponent inspected the gash she'd given him. The blue eyes that stared back at her narrowed and she narrowed her own in response.

"Come on, you furless kitten," she growled, brandishing her new weapon. Without his hierro and with a weapon in had now, even if it was less than ideal, she just might stand a chance. _A small one, but if I can get the sharp end of my weapon through an eye or into his neck or chest, I might injure him enough to finish him off,_ she thought optimistically. She thoroughly refused to think about her weapon being a bone; because if she did her mind would point out how very much it looked like a snapped off, human femur.

Blue eyes narrowed dangerously and this time he charged her with a snarl. She held the bone weapon diagonally before her, catching it in his mouth and keeping his fangs away from her. His massive weight bore her easily to the sand and she had to squirm a bit to avoid his claws. Fortunately, he was too busy using them to keep his own balance to bring them to bear. She scowled in annoyance and tried to keep the bone caught in his mouth; to keep his fangs away from her throat. If he caught the bone between his fangs, she had no doubt he would snap it in twain.

Her scowl deepened in frustration at the temporary stalemate and the beast on top of her suddenly froze, or at least he stopped trying to kill her. He didn't let up the pressure and it felt like her arms were ready to break holding his massive bulk and strength off her.

"r in?" His voice was heavily garbled thanks to the bone acting like a gag.

"Huh?" she questioned intelligently.

Cautiously, the large feline backed off; weary of the 'weapon' in her hand. She scrambled back to her feet and finally got a good look at his other flank and the black tattoo that stained his white hide. There was only one hollow that could possibly match the one before her and, even though she had never personally met him, she had no doubt she knew who this was. Lord knew her brother groused about him enough over the last decade.

"Grimmjow!" she gapped at him.

"You're Karin ain't ya?" he demanded.

"Yeah," she answered, feeling herself relax just a trifle now that they sort of recognized each other.

"Tch, thought I recognized that scowl," he growled. "You look like your stupid brother."

The cheering crowed above them slowly teetered off to grumbles of discontent and boos when it became clear that the battle had ended for now. Grimmjow turned his glare up to the shadowed balcony before baring his fangs and letting out a loud roar. A good number of people in the crowd flinched, she included for his roar was extra loud when one was that close to it, and more snapped their mouths shut. Silence descended on the stadium.

* * *

When the last sport was announced, he knew he was going to get something resembling a paltry meal today after all. What he hadn't been expecting was for his meal to tug slightly at his memory the moment they faced each other. There were very few shinigami he had ever met, fewer he bothered to remember even slightly, and yet this one seemed familiar and very different from most of the other weaklings that were tossed into the pit.

First off, this woman wasn't wearing a shihakusho, but rather what appeared to be grey slacks with a white t-shirt and running shoes. It wasn't the clothing difference that pulled at his mind though, but something in her mannerism and eyes. At first, he thought it might have been the black haired shinigami he'd impaled once that liked to hang around Kurosaki, but the eyes were the wrong colour and the face not nearly as round. He was also rather well acquainted with Rukia since Ichigo liked to hang around her a lot, and if his nose had been right, finally mating her too. This woman was also taller than the Kuchiki rat by a fair amount, not to mention Kurosaki's short friend would have recognized him right away and this woman clearly didn't.

The other thing that was interesting was the fact that, while she was clearly concerned for her wellbeing, she had quickly fallen into a defensive stance and kept her eyes on him. There was no frantic running towards a wall and attempting to scale it, nor dashing towards the only gate that led out of this circular death hole. There was no begging or pleading for mercy from their captors or him, nor was there any hysterical weeping. It was rare that happened.

He stopped circling and made a half-hearted lunge to see how she would react. She rolled pass him and managed to connect her foot with his side. It even stung a little. She quickly regained her feet and turned to face him as fast as she could. Her entire focus was on him as she ignored the Quincy filth taking in the show. Nothing about the move jogged his memory, but something about her seemed so damn familiar it was aggravating. He gave her mental praise when she found a bone under the sand and brandished it as a weapon. Seeing her holding it just tickled his mind some more, but it wasn't until he had her pinned beneath him and she scowled up at him that it clicked.

That scowl. That determined look in the eye even in the face of obvious defeat. The hair and eyes were different colours, but there was no mistaking that expression or the sharp contours of that face. This young woman had black hair instead of blond, which could only mean one thing.

The bone in his mouth garbled his inquiry, but she must have understood him somewhat. He backed carefully away, mindful of that sharpened bone, and watched as she quickly regained her feet. She fell back into a defensive stance the moment she was vertical. His guess must have been dead on for she knew his name as well and while he had never met with either of Ichigo's sisters, his patrol partner had certainly gabbed about them enough times when the silence had gone on far too long. Apparently, Kurosaki had returned the favour with his sisters during the brief moments he got to spend with them.

"Tch, thought I recognized that scowl," he growled, turning his glare up to the shadowed balcony before baring his fangs and letting out a loud roar. "Very funny fuck face. I bet you would have just loved to tell Kurosaki how I ate one of his sisters," he snarled.

The entire crowd remained silent. Yhwach and his pet came into the light to stare down at them. The mere sight of the bastard Quincy king set his hackles up, for he'd been the one directly responsible for the return to four legs. He would never forget the way his body had twisted and jerked as Yhwach used some sort of ability or tool to forcefully strip him of the shinigami part of his collection and regress him back into an Adjucus. He'd only been the first Arrancar to suffer. Others had followed, including Nel during one of her lucid moments in her adult form. In Nel's case though, it had worked out for the better as her broken mask had been fixed and she'd been reverted to a high level Adjucus. She had quickly evolved back into a Vasto Lorde with a few well-placed meals the Quincy had been ever so kind to provide for her with their bodies. The idiots had really stabbed themselves in the foot turning her.

A small part him supposed he should be thankful he hadn't been slain that day while he had panted in the sand with Yhwach standing over him in a very please manner that his little 'spell' had worked, but that would require him to admit Ichigo had saved his life. It was bad enough still owing the hybrid for saving him from that dick Nnoitra, but acknowledging he had _two_ life debts was almost physically painful.

"I find it amusing you would throw one of Ichigo's sisters into the pit, Hashwald" Yhwach chuckled. "She could be so much more useful to us alive."

"I would sooner die than be used against Ichi-nii," Karin snarled from beside him, a remark he silently applauded, as the two on the balcony continued to look at them like one would a dog doing interesting tricks for the amusement of others.

"I am sorry, your Majesty. I foolishly believed she was one of his spiritually aware, human friends."

The fact Hashwald had no idea who Karin was took him by surprise. It would seem the fools hadn't even known _who_ they'd had captive. The rank and file made sense, but Hashwald should have recognized their target's family members. He ignored the fact it had taken him a moment to, but at least he had figured it out quickly. He wondered if they would have thrown Karin down here at all if they had known her connection to Ichigo, or if they planned on fishing her out now. She would be a very valuable hostage, especially considering how much of a pain in their asses Ichigo was being.

"I thought it would be interesting to see how a spiritually aware human would fare against your pets over a Shinigami. I was unaware his sisters had developed abilities."

He snarled up at the bastards at being referred to as a 'pet' and turned his back on the duo. "C'mon," he growled, heading back towards his cell. Karin didn't hesitate long before following in his wake. _Smart girl. It will be harder to fish her out if she's in my den. As much as I hate to admit it, I owe Kurosaki and it will really stick it in their craw to fuck up their plans by keeping her safe. Not that I should need to do much. Bitch has spunk,_ he couldn't help but to think amused.

He ignored her presence once they were inside the dubious safety of his assigned den and lay down in his nest. He would need to conserve his strength and not waste energy until his next feeding, whenever that was due. He doubted he would be given another chance on the next round of entertainment just because he'd chosen to spare her. He also didn't want to admit she'd landed a few good hits on him and he used the majority of his bulk to block the sight of him cleaning the gash she'd made with that bone. It had been a good strike and if the bone had been braced against the ground, might have even done some serious damage.

 _The next frenzy should be in a few more cycles. If I rest and not use any strength, I should be more than strong enough to get in a few meals. Weak ass chumps, no wonder they are kissing these bastards' boots. They never had a chance at becoming Vasto Lorde. Becoming an Arrancar is the best they could ever hope to get._ He ignored the little voice at the back of his head that called him a hypocrite. Aizen had given him a short cut after all. _Tch, Aizen was going to kill us if we refused and we didn't exactly have anywhere to run and hide to. These fools are playing with fire. It won't be much longer, I can feel the power within me coiling so tightly it should be bursting forth soon. I will bathe in their blood and feast upon their corpses for days to come._ Such thoughts entertained him for a short while before his attention was once more called to his new den mate.

* * *

Karin hadn't missed the way Grimmjow growled at the back of his throat over being referred to as a 'pet,' but she also noticed he didn't return a smart aleck comment either, something that seemed out of character given her second hand knowledge of the former Espada.

She didn't hesitate long before following in his wake when he led her back to his cell. The last thing she needed was for a different cell to be opened and to end up facing a new opponent, one that would be delighted to eat her. The crowd was murmuring and she could feel eyes on her back as she followed Grimmjow. It took a lot of control not to shiver at the feeling. There wasn't much in the cell other than what looked like a nest made of black and white cloth. The bars came down behind her, locking her in the rather small room. The walls on either side appeared to be more sandstone and she noticed the double sets of bars on the inner side.

 _Like the safety pens zoos used to transfer items in and out of the cages. I suppose they could also be used to move prisoners between them while the cell is cleaned._

The sound of the crowd leaving acted as background noise and a glance out of the cell revealed several very nervous people cleaning the arena. She frowned as she noticed they seemed to be wearing very tattered shihakusho, suggesting they were probably shinigami prisoners that hadn't been chosen to be eaten, or at least, not yet.

Grimmjow moved over to his nest and lay down, promptly ignoring her. She sat down against the wall across from him and began to inspect her injuries, hissing as she used a relatively clean part of her clothing to try and brush the sand out of her lacerations. A few were deep enough that she tore off small strips to bind them.

 _Considering what lives in these cells; it's no wonder they are nervous. I wonder how often some Quincy jackass opens one, or more, of these cells just to see which ones don't make it to safety._

 _Damn these wounds are starting to sting and, as much as I hate to admit it, I am out of breath too. Another fight now would not end well for me. Besides, I wasn't lying when I said I would sooner die than be used against anyone. I got a feeling Grimmjow would have no problems ending my life quickly if I asked. He might even enjoy it as a bit of payback to Ichi-nii for all their scuffles._ _At least my pride is appeased slightly to learn it was their second in command that took me down so damn easily and not some stupid grunt,_ she thought as she felt her wounded pride stitch a bit of itself back together, followed by several more stitches over the knowledge she'd actually lasted longer than four seconds against Grimmjow in that pit, even if he was stripped of everything but his own physical strength. He was a trained killer, a predator full of weapons. She'd had her fists and the bone she'd managed to trip over.

"I don't suppose we are lucky enough to have water anywhere?" she asked after a look around the room revealed nothing more than floor, bars, walls, ceiling, Grimmjow, and his nest of cloth.

"Not very often," he answered.

"Shit!" she cursed. "Would be just my luck to have one of these scratches get infected and die to an infection," she muttered. The universe would spite her that way too, she just knew it. She could already see the fever dreams. She nearly jumped when his shadow fell over her.

"Let me see," he ordered.

She held the arm she'd been inspecting out and just about shot out of her clothing when his rough tongue ran over the wound. It was not very comfortable. His tongue was of a feline nature, and thus bristle furs covered it. Considering the absence of water, which might not even be clean if they had it, it was probably the best way to get the dirt out. He tended to all her scratches before returning silently to his nest.

 _Least his breath doesn't stink or anything. Man, I hope they let us take showers occasionally. I got sand in places I would rather not think about and my hair is a tangled rats nest, not to mention I am going to stink if I am forced to live in these sweat soaked clothes._

Not long after the prisoners were done cleaning the arena and retreated to their own cells somewhere, the lights turned off, plunging her into darkness. She mentally cursed as she blinked her eyes rapidly. After several very long minutes, the only thing that appeared was glowing red eyes from several of the cells across the way. It was very unnerving and she felt the hair on her body rise as her skin became hyper sensitive. Even her hearing seemed to jump in sensitivity.

"So, obviously, you are not dead," she commented after the silence and darkness finally got to her.

A snort was her response.

"Dare I ask what this place is, other than a ring for some sort of sick, Quincy entertainment?"

"Training ground," he grunted. "Most of those in the other cells are baseline Adjucus, but a few were Arrancar forcefully regressed like me. The pathetic ones are removed from their cells and sent to the front as cannon fodder for these fuck faces when they have 'earned the privilege by contributing to the empire,'" he snorted in contempt.

That made some sense. She'd learned from the others over the years that the Quincy had been using hollows as shock troops. An Adjucus alone could take out an entire squad of even seated officers and very few shinigami could take on an Arrancar.

"From what my brother has said, you hardly seem like the 'loyal lapdog' type, and if you have been here for as long as you have been presumed dead, why haven't they just killed you yet?" she asked confused.

"Stupidity?" he offered, pulling a chuckle from her.

"That, I can fully believe they have in abundance."

Silence fell between them again, but this time it felt somewhat more comfortable. It was getting cold the longer the lights were out. _Or perhaps, it was always cold in here and now that the adrenaline has worn off, I am finally starting to notice it._

She curled up the best she could, trying to make herself comfortable on the sandy floor. There was about two inches of the dry, grainy stuff before she hit more sandstone. No doubt the cell was layered in sand because it was easy to clean, which was not a pleasant thought. She hadn't exactly seen anything resembling a latrine in here.

Her instincts screamed at her not to turn her back to a predator, especially one as dangerous as the large feline behind her, but she told them to 'take a hike' and pointed out to herself that if Grimmjow wanted to eat her, there really wasn't much that could stop him. Oh, she could delay it, but she wasn't fooling herself into thinking that she would have won out there. She piled up the sand around her the best she could and curled against the wall, pulling her arms in under her shirt and tight around her. It helped a little, but not much. By the end of an hour she was still wide awake and shivering. The sounds from the other cells didn't help any either. She could hear growling, snarling and what sounded like the odd whimper and soft cry. The fact the latter two sounded disturbingly human didn't help matters any. She damn near jumped out of her skin when she felt something land on her.

"Your shivering is annoying," Grimmjow growled.

"Sorry," she muttered sarcastically, but didn't try and push the fabric he'd dropped on her away. She thought it was some sort of yukata, but in the dark she couldn't tell. All that mattered was that it would work as a blanket. Folded in half, it offered some warmth at least and her little cocoon eventually gained some warmth, at least enough she wasn't 'cold' anymore, but she would hardly say she was warm. It was so dark that she honestly had no idea when she managed to fall asleep.

* * *

It was well after lights out when Karin finally fell into a restless slumber under the bedding he had provided for her. He'd honestly expected her to crawl into the nest with him for the shared warmth, but it would seem she was still leery of him. He could respect that. It was not easy to share a nest with someone you just met when they had just tried to eat you an hour or so ago. Feigned companionship for an easy meal was not uncommon amongst Adjucus.

He was just getting ready to get some rest himself when the occupant of the cell to his left spoke up. "Getting soft, Grimmjow?"

"Fuck off Starrk. It's none of your business," he growled.

"I wonder how long she will remain compliant in your cell when she sees what they feed us, or what we do to the ones they give us as pets. You should get some sleep tonight while you can."

"Tch," he scoffed, but had to admit the coyote was right. Ichigo still got squeamish at times when he had to feed on the more human shaped Adjucus and there was no telling if Karin would handle it any better, especially considering she might end up _knowing_ some of their meals. There was also the chance that the Quincy bastards may offer a reward to whichever Adjucus could kill/eat her during the next frenzy, or at least separate her from him and into their own cells where she could be more easily retrieved.

 _Again, assuming they feed her at all. It's not like I can just conjure up food for her to eat, and I doubt I could convince her to share my meals. Doing so would probably just make her sick; humans can't eat raw meat after all. Ah fuck it, no use worrying over shit we can't control._

He drifted off to a light slumber, one that would be easily broken if any disturbance should enter his cell. He wouldn't put it past the fools to try and take her while he was resting. It would be a foolish move, but he didn't credit half of the guards with the intelligence someone as dim witted as Yammy had been able to boast. If anything, they would send their slaves in to try and recover her since his eating the wretches spared to be slaves wouldn't be any loss to them. He wasn't worried about her coming after him at all. If she was anything like Ichigo, now that they were 'companions' she would lay her life on the line for his own. It was a strange thing humans, or at least those of the Kurosaki line, seemed to do.

* * *

While I started this fict near the end of POV, I still haven't finished it as I have been working on an original piece of fiction that I am pleased to announce has just finished its first round of editing and is halfway through its second. I do have 125 pages of this fict done, and I decided to start posting it to, hopefully, motivate me to finish it up. That and there is still a void of Grimmjow/Karin ficts.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day 'dawned' bright as the fake sky was flicked on. The cells were at least shaded enough that it didn't immediately burn her eyes. Karin awoke with a groan, most of her muscles feeling stiff and sore. Her lacerations only stung when she moved the flesh they were marred into, so that was at least one improvement already. Her stomach ached lightly with the need to go pee combined with the stirrings of hunger. Another groan pulled its way past her lips as she forced herself to sit up and stretch out her stiff muscles. Grimmjow was still in his nest, but this time he was facing her with blue eyes half lidded.

"Morning," she greeted. "I don't suppose there is some sort of hidden button somewhere on the walls that open a doorway into a bathroom is there?" she asked. "Preferably one with a large hot spring?"

"No," he answered with a trace of amusement.

"Well shit. You got a corner you use for your business?" she asked, looking doubtfully about the cell.

"They let us out once a day to use the sand in the main pit."

"That does not sound fun and kind of perverted," she muttered.

A commotion from the other side of the duel bars brought both of their attention to the shinigami prisoner that was in the process of raising the outer bars. The shivering boy, for he hardly looked that old, deposited a bowl of water, a bowl of rice with what looked like strips of meat on top, and another empty bowl before hustling back out and securing the outer gate.

With a click, a small section of the inner bars swung in slightly as the latch was released. Karin retrieved the three bowls, making sure to leave as much of her body in the main cell as possible. She wouldn't put it past them to try and separate her or retrieve her by trapping her between the two sets of bars. She wasn't ready to be separated from the only person she knew here just yet.

"I don't suppose you can detect poisons, can you? Any way to tell if this food is drugged?" she asked.

"Let me take a whiff."

She was reminded as to just how large he was when he stood and padded over to her. If she'd been standing at her full, semi impressive 5'8" height, she would be looking him dead in the eye. He was probably a good 6ft or more at the shoulders.

"Smells clean, so does the water. If there is anything in it, I can't scent it."

"Thanks. Do you want some of the water?" she asked.

"Take care of yourself first. I do not require nearly as much as you do."

"Alright." _Considering Hueco Mundo is a giant desert, I suppose that makes sense._

He padded back to his nest and curled up with his back facing her. She took the offered privacy to use the empty bowl to flush her bladder before eating most of her fare. She couldn't bring herself to eat the meat. Something about it just seemed wrong to her. It was the wrong colour to be chicken or pig and yet the dark brown meat just didn't seem the right shade to be cow to her.

"You want the rest?" she asked, offering him the bowl of meat and about a quarter of the water.

"You have had enough to keep your strength up?" he asked.

"If I get this amount every day, I should be good for some time yet. I am not as hungry as I should be. I remember Rukia once mentioning that plus souls in Soul Society don't even need to eat, nor do lesser hollows. Maybe the larger reishi in Hueco Mundo is sustaining me some."

"Perhaps," he agreed. It didn't take him long to finish the remains off. One swipe of his tongue brought the meat into his mouth and the water followed quickly, despite the fact his head was far larger than the bowl.

Sometime later, the three bowls were replaced with two; another meal of rice and meat and a fresh bowl of water. Grimmjow waved the water away, but he did eat the meat when she offered it. This time she really didn't want to know what it was for she could see a few veins filled with black blood and it sure as hell was not fish.

"So, is this what the days look like here?" she asked sometime after dinner; which had included another bowl to use as a chamber pot.

"Most days."

"Well, this is boring as all hell. How are you still sane?" she asked.

He laughed, a sound that actually seemed to have a hint of madness to it. "This is far more activity than most see while hunting in the empty sands of Hueco Mundo. There is a reason many Adjucus will form packs, and it isn't just to make hunting easier or to have someone watch your back as you sleep."

"I suppose it would help to have someone cover you while fucking too," she mused aloud.

He stared at her, before laughing again. "You offering?" he asked.

"Not sure I am into bestiality. Besides, I got a feeling you are fully, feline correct, which means barbs, so double no thanks." The mere thought was enough to make her shudder. Just how big would the barbs on a feline of his size be?

He laughed again and gave his head a shake. "Fuck, why couldn't you have been born with Kurosaki's power? He is such a prude."

"Yeah, well, Goatface and Yuzu didn't help him any. Every time he even _looked_ at a girl they went all stalker crazy on him, especially the old man. He would start railing about grandkids to the poster of our dead mother loud enough for half the city to hear. His exclamations about 'young vitality' didn't help any either." She couldn't help the small smile that touched her lips. "Course, heaven forbid a boy even look towards Yuzu or myself. Do you have any idea how hard it is to even hang out with my male friends, which I had tons of, without the old man breathing down their necks and warning them of even attempting anything with his 'precious flowers?'" she scowled.

"If they were scared off by your sire, then they were not worth mating anyhow," he snorted.

"Can't argue that point," she conceded after thinking about it for a moment.

The bars to his cell suddenly opened. Throughout the day different hollows, most of them Adjucus, had been released into the large chamber. Several had wandered over their way, but a single look and soft growl from Grimmjow sent them off quickly. Karin rose to her feet and picked up her bone weapon.

"Stay by the entrance," he ordered.

"No arguments from me," she agreed easily.

She followed him outside just enough that she could dive back into the cell if another, or more, was opened. The sound of a few heavy sniffs brought her attention to the cell beside their own. It seemed to contain a… wolf? No, the body was too lean, the legs far too long and skinny and the head was not near broad enough. It wasn't a dog either, at least not any species she could recognize. It almost resembled a fox, save that the tail was all wrong. He wasn't very big either, far smaller than Grimmjow. Grey eyes stared intelligently at her and he or she cocked its head to the side to study her. It was hard to tell gender since it was lying down in its own nest of black and white cloth.

 _Can't hurt I suppose,_ she mused as she studied him. "Hi."

"Evening," he replied civilly.

She studied him some more, her eyes shifting down to his front paws, one of which had a black mark on it. At first, she thought it was maybe a wound or a bruise, but she realized after studying it for a moment that it was actually a number.

"Making friends, Starrk?" Grimmjow grunted as he appeared by her side.

Starrk didn't answer, but simple rose to his feet. While Grimmjow's head was easily equal to her own, Starrk's only rose to her stomach. The gate began to open and Karin shuffled closer to her own cell mate. She didn't get the impression that Starrk was interested in eating or attacking her, but she wasn't going to be all friendly with him just because he returned her greeting. He was a hollow after all and if that tattoo and his name were anything to go by, a former Espada as well.

She followed Grimmjow back into their shared cell while Starrk took his turn at sniffing around the sand. The gate closed behind them, once more locking them into the small space.

"I thought Starrk was dead," she commented.

"He's too old and powerful to be killed so easily. Idiots left him for dead not knowing what they were dealing with. You want to make sure someone as strong as he is stays dead, you eat them. Even that's not a guarantee, come to think of it."

"Is he a friend?" she asked curiously.

He gave a bark of a laugh before answering her question. "Hollows don't so much have 'friends' as we have 'not food' or 'not enemies.'"

"Pretty sure Nel would disagree," she pointed out.

"Nel is fucked in the head."

"Females are more likely to make 'friends' for the sake of survival and successful rearing of their young," Starrk's muffled voice came from beside them.

Karin moved closer to the pit opening so she could hear him better. The sandstone walls did a pretty good job muffling sound. "So, do hollows just mate and run?" she asked curiously. Dinner arrived and she once again passed the meat over to Grimmjow after he checked her meal for any poisons he might be able to detect.

"Depends. Most packs will help rear the young, they are so rare and so very vulnerable, but it will come down to the individual and their base creatures. These forms we take are chosen for a reason in many cases," Starrk answered while they ate.

"What do you know Starrk? Until Aizen came along the only person you could even get close to was Lynette. No wonder all you want to do is duck your head under the pillows all day."

"Lynette is gone." His voice was hollow and Karin felt her chest constrict at the pain she could hear in it.

"What happened?" she asked softly.

"Aizen killed her," Starrk answered bitterly.

"Thought you said it was some Shinigami freak wearing a pink kimono," Grimmjow challenged.

"Shunsui?" Karin questioned, for he was the only one she could think of that wore an unmistakable pink Kimono. She doubted very many other Shinigami were garbed like he was.

"He was merely the sword Aizen threw her at."

The light went out, causing her to jump a bit in surprise as darkness enveloped them. She patted her way over to the little pit she had dug in the sand and found the black kosodo Grimmjow had lent her from his own nest. It was unwise to be near the bars in the dark where a suddenly loose hollow could sink its claws into her. She got the impression that Starrk was done talking anyhow so she settled in to sleep. She had learned some interesting things today that were worth reflecting upon.

* * *

The fact they were feeding Karin suggested to him that they had no plans to remove her from his cell, at least not for now. The meat she pawned off on him, while merely scraps, helped to abate his constant hunger slightly. He couldn't bring himself to tell her it was hollow meat from those deemed unworthy and hunted to death, but he had a feeling she knew, or at least suspected. He checked her food without needing to be asked after the first day. He had no desire for her to be poisoned or drugged. With his luck, they would leave her to rot in his cell and that would start to stink real quick.

 _Alright, I wouldn't let her rot, I would eat her. Would take that info to my next six reincarnations._

Throughout the first two days he had to warn off the others that came stalking around to get a look at her during their own pee breaks. The second day saw Starrk issuing his own warning growls. He was loathed to admit that the others had given up so soon due to the fact Starrk had added his own warnings. The other former Espada was considerably more powerful, even regressed into an Adjucus form, than he was. In fact, Grimmjow was detested to admit the Starrk was probably still as powerful now as he had been as the 6th Espada, despite Starrk suddenly finding himself on four paws instead of two feet. He never did learn how Yhwach had found Starrk or changed the former first, and he wasn't about to ask.

There was next to nothing to do in the cells except sleep or talk. Karin at least knew how to keep up an interesting conversation and Starrk joined in occasionally. He had to admit, it was well worth the conversations to get dirt on Ichigo, and Karin was more than willing to share.

"Seriously? Kuro-fucking-saki was a mamma's boy?" he demanded in disbelief.

"That would be putting it mildly," Karin chuckled. "He was practically glued to Mama's side. Tatsuki use to kick his ass every training session and have him in tears before Mama would come save him. Granted, she is a world renown martial artist, so that's not a fair comparison. She was the one who trained me damn near daily when shit really started to get ugly out there with the white clad freaks."

"What happened?" Starrk asked.

"Mama died," Karin answered. Her face fell and grief passed over it. "She was killed by Grandfisher, or so I was told when my old man finally 'fessed up after I threatened to introduce his head with Yuzu's prized wok if he didn't stop hiding shit from me. I can get why he did it when we were little, but at this point in our lives, with all the danger out there, hiding shit from us is just going to get us killed. I like knowing what I need to keep an eye out for."

"Grandfisher was an Adjucus, one that preferred the taste of human flesh, preferably female, over his own kind. The fact your brother survived an encounter with him at such a young age should have been a warning of his potential," Starrk mused.

"Or a clear sign of how weak ass and pathetic Grandfisher was," he snorted. "Idiot couldn't even handle being turned into an Arrancar right without only going part way and immediately getting his ass killed the same day. Weak ass fuck," he muttered.

"Well, as stupid and idiotic as the old man can be, he is still, or was, a taichou."

Grimmjow's head snapped up to stare at her in surprise. It shouldn't have surprised him considering Ichigo's strength, but his rival had never once mentioned this about his Sire. In fact, Ichigo did his damn best to avoid talking about Isshin, and even the thought of Kurosaki's sire had that trademark scowl on his face with an additional tick of irritation over his eye.

 _From what I have learned from Karin so far, it's no wonder he never talked about his sire much. Speaking of talking, I don't think I have ever heard Starrk talk so much. Loneliness must really be getting to him. Granted, Lilinette never shut up long enough for anyone to get a word in edgewise anyhow, least of all him, so maybe that's why he didn't talk all that much. Or maybe he is just enjoying the conversation until tomorrow, when she will no doubt turn her back on us, or at least him. Starrk will be one of the first up to be fed, assuming they got prey big enough to feed him. They just might drop a couple into the pit instead of one. Wouldn't be the first time._

He had no doubt tomorrow would bring another round of entertainment. If not tomorrow than the next day. He had no idea how Karin was going to react to them slaughtering and eating the prey dropped down into the pit, or each other depending on the form of entertainment chosen. She hadn't asked about the pile of shihakusho that made up his nest. _Perhaps she thinks they are from the people the Vandervich killed. She wouldn't really be wrong. Probably a good thing the lighting prevents anyone from seeing too well into the other cells. If she saw what went on in a few of them…_

That thought brought a different one to his mind and suddenly the reason she was being left in his cell came into a different light. He was fairly positive there were no cameras in the cells, but the quincy bastards wouldn't need to see in. The moment she went into heat every hollow in the stadium would know it and react. Unlike Shinigami or hollows, humans went into heat monthly, not by the decade. They could afford to wait and hope and see if anything came from it.

 _Idiots. Maybe one of those other simpletons might be enticed to mate with her for the sake of having their masks broken by King Fuckface so they can see what it's like to touch upon being something similar to a Vasto Lorde before they die so ingloriously on the blade of one of those bloody shinigami, short sighted morons, but I am not so base as to mate an unwilling woman just because she was in heat. Only a fool lets their instincts control them instead of just listening to them. The fact we can_ choose _to act on them or not is what makes us more than mere beasts._

They'd tried to entice him to breed before, but each time he either ignored the prospecting female or ate 'em, depending on how hungry he was and how much of a meal they would make. He had no plans on playing to their games in anyway that didn't benefit him. His attention was pulled back to the conversation and while he had missed Starrk enquiry, Karin's answer at least explained how she had gotten tangled up in this mess.

"With the war going on there are very few shinigami on patrol anymore, which means plus souls are being left behind and hollows are running amok everywhere eating them up. Probably why Soul Society didn't say anything to me, or the others, when we starting to take up the mantel. In fact, I think they even gave Tatsuki, Keigo, Asano and a few other of Ichi-nii's more spiritually aware friends those blank zanpakuto to help clean up the mess with. I ain't interested in a sword, more likely to cut me own head, arm or leg off if I even tried, so I got Kisuke to give me a seal instead to send plus souls on. It's not my war and I couldn't really care less, but I can't just stand there doing nothing when I can see those poor plus souls being neglected when it ain't their fault.

"As for the hollows that show up, I wanted to ignore them but the one I ignore today could be the one to kill a friend tomorrow, so I take care of them if I can or lead them about to someone who can help me deal with them or, on a few occasions, lead them to the middle of nowhere before I lose them. By that point they usually get a little pissed and head back here not wanting to waste anymore time or risk being noticed by a real shinigami.

"That's how that long-haired asshole pinned me down. An adjucus had been hunting on my turf, or most likely fleeing from a Quincy patrol now that I think about it. I started to fight with it to move it away from the civilians when, bam, that jackass came in. He killed the hollow and roughed me up a bit before dragging me here. You know the rest."

The way she scowled reminded him of himself when he had prey stolen from him… or when he had to bite his tongue in Aizen's presence.

"So, the shinigami are losing?" Starrk asked.

"More like 'not winning' from what I understand based on what little info I get. Seems like they are kind of caught in a stalemate of some sort, but people on either side are still dying. I do know they managed to secure the Royal Palace, but not much more than that. Nel stops by to check on us from time to time and I get bits of info from Nanao-san when Shunsui sends her to exchange letters with those on the front lines. Part of the deal for Ichi-nii and Goatface to join in the fighting was that they would be able to keep in touch with all of us."

He recalled every time Ichigo had gotten his letters when they returned to Las Noches after a patrol. It was really the only time he could recall the hybrid smiling, even if it was a sad smile. Now he understood why the young man had been so impatient to receive them.

The lights went out and he heard Karin shuffle over to her spot, curling up under the makeshift blanket. His own eyes adjusted quickly but even he could barely see in the blackness. He was just getting ready to drift off when a loud scream broke the silence. Karin bolted to her feet, bone in hand and facing the darkness. He gave her points for bravery since he knew she couldn't see a thing. The scream turned into sobs that he could hear easily, but were no doubt quiet to her human ears; assuming she could even hear them. He supposed it was a good thing her hearing was not so great because it meant she missed most of the sounds of rutting that took place during the night.

"What was that, other than the obvious?" Karin asked, her voice somewhat shaky.

"Someone got hurt in the dark. It happens a fair amount," Starrk answered calmly, and probably more diplomatically then he was about to.

"Not all hollows have good night vision I take it?" she questioned with a nervous chuckle, settling back down under her own blanket.

"Even with night vision, I can only make you out as a slightly darker shadow in a shadow," he reluctantly confessed. "Even we need a bit of light to see."

Karin settled back down, but somehow, he doubted either one of their words had comforted her, nor did he think she was going to get much rest tonight. Grimmjow folded his own ears back, trying to block out the noise of the others rutting with their pets. The scream had triggered most, if not all, of the others with breeding partners to mate.

The next morning came with a snap of the lights turning on. Food, water and chamber pot were delivered and several of the shinigami slaves were out in the arena, indicating today would be a day of entertainment after all. He watched Karin out of the corner of his eye as she watched them rake the sand and clean up the mess from yesterday's potty breaks. It was unlikely he would be chosen to participate, but it was Starrk's turn to feed.


	3. Chapter 3

Karin could tell something different was up today. First off, the Shinigami prisoners were fearfully raking the sand, glancing nervously at the cages that ringed the stadium. Second off, even though he tried to hide it, she was positive Grimmjow was nervous. She could tell by the way the tip of his tail kept twitching. She kept her bone weapon extra close.

It was after her morning meal and waste had been removed when the sound of the stadium filling started to reach her ears. She felt a scowl appear on her face as she realized that a round of 'entertainment' was about to begin. Based on what little she had learned so far in the three days she'd been here, such entertainment seemed to involve feeding shinigami prisoners to hollows. It was sickening. She couldn't see much of the crowd from the cell, the angle was wrong, but she could picture it.

The crowds' din dying down was the only warning she got that the event was about to start. A black and white body hit the ground and a terrified shinigami she didn't recognize scrambled about in the sand, frantically racing towards the wall on hands and feet. A scorpion type hollow chased him down quickly, the stinger on its back coming down to impale the man through the chest. Blood splattered across the sands in a fountain and the man let out a gargled scream before turning black and going still. The hollow took its time tearing pieces of flesh off with its pincers and eating it. The gruesome display continued until the only thing left were the tattered remains of the man's uniform, dark sand where blood had landed, and a few of the larger bones that were almost picked clean.

Karin felt sick to her stomach as the hollow gathered the scattered remains of its meal's clothing and returned to its cell. She couldn't help but to glance at Grimmjow's nest and quickly realized where the padding had come from. Grimmjow ignored her glance, watching the spectacle before them with board disinterest. She shifted her gaze to the kosodo she was using for a blanket and couldn't help but to wonder who it had belonged to before now. Hopefully not someone she knew.

Another prisoner was tossed into the pit, taken down, and consumed by the next hollow released. The sound of flesh tearing and bones crunching caused her to wince, but she couldn't bring herself to look away. She clutched her bone to her tightly as she watched the bloody spectacle take place before her and came to the realization that those bloody corpses could have easily been her if she hadn't been both lucky enough to have drawn Grimmjow and have him recognize her.

The crowd above suddenly grew silent after the sixth prisoner had been consumed. Now Grimmjow suddenly showed interest and moved to sit beside her. The position resulted in his head being slightly higher than her own.

"Starrk?" he whispered.

"Yeah. Wonder who pissed of the Black Death this time. Maybe one of the sternritter if we are lucky."

"Never that lucky," Grimmjow snorted.

"What's going on?" she asked, keeping her own voice low too.

The next man to land in the pit was clothed all in white. Karin barely had time to register it was a Quincy and not a shinigami before Starrk shot from his cell. Sharp fangs closed around the man's throat, who struggled briefly before going into violent convulsions. A moment later the body went still. Starrk tore into his meal with relish and it didn't take him long to consume everything, even the bones as his sharp fangs snapped and broke them. When he was done, nothing but splintered bone fragments remained.

"When they piss of their leader, sometimes they are thrown down here for us to deal with. Hollow reiatsu is poisonous to the Quincy," Grimmjow answered her question as Starrk began to lick himself clean of the blood that had splashed on his muzzle, paws and neck. "Truthfully, they taste like shit, but it's worth it for the power we often get out of them and the satisfaction of getting our fangs on 'em," he growled.

Starrk gathered the remains of his meal's clothing and returned calmly to his cell. Karin noticed that he almost seemed tired and didn't glance their way once.

"How many shinigami have you eaten?" she asked softly.

"Fuck, I have lost count. Too many to keep track of anyway. I been around a long time," he answered with a grunt. "It's not like shinigami and hollows have a history of being friends." He rose to his paws and returned to his nest. "That will be all the 'entertainment' for today. They always save their own dead for last."

Karin remained silent as she watched the nervous shinigami prisoners, the ones that had apparently been spared being a meal for some reason, begin to clean up the arena. When dinner came, she forced herself to eat; passing the meat over to Grimmjow on auto pilot. It had certainly been a gruesome display. Yet… the more she replayed the horrible events over and over in her mind, one thing became clear; all the shinigami, and even the quincy, had been killed quickly and efficiently. There had been no torture, no drawn-out suffering. If anything had been drawn out, it had been the actual consummation of the corpse. While grotesque, the victim hadn't actually suffered.

"Do you always kill your prey so quickly?" she asked, pleased that her voice was steady as she asked the question.

"Yes," Starrk answered. "It is foolish to give your prey a chance to escape or harm you."

"What happens to the souls of the people you eat?"

"They join our soul collection. When we die, the souls move on to where they are supposed to go, usually Soul Society."

She found herself relaxing at the statement and moved over to where she usually sat while talking to Starrk.

"Do they suffer being in your soul collection?"

"No. It's a lot like taking a long sleep, or so the few who remember it say. Occasionally, when the main personality of a hollow becomes weak for some reason, another will rise to take its place. I knew one hollow that had three dominate personalities. When the other two were not in control or ridding double, they said it was a lot like being asleep. Sometimes they would 'dream' about things going on, but most of the time it was quiet and peaceful," Starrk explained.

"Sounds a lot better than being erased from existence," she couldn't help but to muse aloud. "Giving the choice, I think I would sooner be eaten."

"I'll remember that for later," Grimmjow drawled.

"What makes you think I would let _you_ eat me? Starrk has been the more informative, talkative, friendly one," she pointed out. "I got a feeling it would be a lot more peaceful in his head than in yours."

"Yeah, I give you a week before you would go crazy with boredom. If you are anything like the girl your brother wouldn't shut up about, then you are far more interested in kicking asses than sleeping all day."

"I am hardly a 'girl,'" she rolled her eyes at him, "but you might have me there," she admitted easily. "And if I was being honest, I would sooner see you eat the entire quincy army while I kicked 'em down your throats than have to be eaten."

"A good dream," Starrk sighed.

"Really should have been you who got those powers your brother wastes," Grimmjow chuckled.

Karin settled more comfortably into her makeshift bed, mind slightly more at ease than it had been after witnessing the straight up murders that had taken place earlier. She couldn't help but to wonder if the Shinigami knew what awaited them if they were captured, but she somehow doubted it. Ichigo would never have mentioned camps like these in his letters, but Orihime would have and Nel would have warned her to watch out for them.

She wasn't a fool either and had noticed the word choices Starrk had used. She had a feeling that being eaten was the better fate. Grimmjow had mentioned some of the others having 'pets' and that scream the other night, while one of pain, hadn't sounded very much like the 'stub your toe' kind of pain. Not that she could stop anyone from torturing anyone else being locked up in this cell, nor could she get through the doors of the other cells while in the arena.

The next ten days seemed to pass in the same pattern. She was fed three times a day, provided a bowl for waste twice a day, and every two to four days more prisoners were thrown into the pit to feed the hollows. She quickly noticed a pattern to the way they were being released and she had a feeling that Grimmjow's turn would be coming up again soon.

 _Can I watch him kill and eat a 'human?'_ she asked herself. _I accepted Starrk doing it, but that was an enemy and I don't really share a cell with him. What if it's someone I know?_ The thought was making her nervous and it was getting harder to sleep at night. She didn't know many shinigami, but the idea of watching the ones she did know have their throats torn out was not pleasant.

There was a growing commotion in the cells as the sound of the crowd gathering up above reached their ears. The hollows were chitterling excitedly and the few she could barely make out from the light reflecting off their white hides were pacing before their bars in excitement. Grimmjow's ears were up and his nose was lifted to the air. When he stood up Karin was reminded all too keenly that he was a male.

"What's going on?" she asked nervously.

"Breeding selection," Grimmjow answered in a growl.

Now that she thought about it, all the hollows she'd seen and heard had been male. Nel had mentioned that there were fewer females at the higher ranks, mainly because most of the people that became hollows were men since most militaries were, to this day, male heavy. If anyone tended to die in bloody, violent ways, it was often soldiers.

The entertainment started off as she had seen the last four times. A shinigami prisoner was tossed into the pit to be eaten. This time the meals were over quickly as the hollow chosen to eat them made a quick kill and all but choked on their meal while trying to eat in a rush. There was even another Quincy tossed into the pit, this one a civilian judging by the lack of a white uniform; or perhaps he'd been caught doing something off duty and not given a chance to change.

The sound of hysterical female screaming alerted her to the fact that the 'breeding selection' was up next. To her horror, the woman being lowered into the pit was not only naked and restrained in ropes like something right out of a bondage movie, but she was clearly not a hollow either. She was left dangling about two feet off the ground, swinging and swaying slightly as she fought against her restraints. Screams turned into frightened sobs and Karin wondered how long she'd been suspended above the pit. Long enough to have seen her companions devoured? Did she have any idea that the Quincy didn't intend for her to be eaten?

"If this door opens, you stay close by my side or Starrk or his cell if we get separated," Grimmjow ordered firmly. Unable to find her voice, she nodded her head and held her weapon close.

The bars to their cell didn't open, but four others did. Two of the hollows raced for the bound woman, who let out a scream of terror when she saw the one in front of her charge at her. The third stalked in at a more leisurely pace while the fourth moved out of his cell and lay down to watch. The two that charged in met in a fury of claws and fangs as they fought, both trying to do more damage to the other. The third, goat-like one slowed down as he approached and walked around the fighting duo to sniff at the sobbing female, who tried to jerk away from him. It just resulted in her swinging in her harness. Apparently not liking the scent, he scoffed and turned to the two that were fighting. He moved so fast Karin almost missed the attack.

With a furious scream, one of the two scrapping hollows fell away, blood gushing from his neck. The two attacking wasted no time in ending his life and beginning to feast in a leisurely manner. Oddly enough, the sight of hollows fighting and killing each other didn't bother her overly much.

 _Probably because they look so much like animals. It's not like watching a tiger eat a monkey has ever bothered me or watching alligators take down wildebeest. What is the fourth one doing though? He is still just laying there in front of his cell looking board._

For a brief moment, she dared to hope the two hollows eating the third had forgotten about the suspended woman, but the one that had initially charged in finally rose to his feet and turned to face her. The bound female sobbed as the hollow stalked around her, looking very much like the mongoose he resembled, all be it even larger than Grimmjow.

 _Come to think of it, he and Starrk are considerably smaller than the others. It's like some sort of reverse evolution. The more powerful they are, the smaller they get._

Karin had to look away when Mongoose finally stepped over his victim and settled in above her. His partner stood guard over his mating friend, keeping an eye on the third hollow that still showed little to no interest in what was going on. The screams of the woman being raped by what was basically an animal gouged their way into Karin's brain and she felt tears threaten the corners of her eyes. Locked in this cell, there was nothing she could do to help the poor woman. Even if she had been free she doubted she could take on one, let alone both, of the hollows before her.

Judging by the way Grimmjow had returned to his nest as soon as it had been determined which one was going to take the woman, she doubted he would offer any assistance.

 _That could have been me,_ she realized in horror.

Raking sobs died down to whimpering and she found herself looking out into the pit again. Mongoose was done and he used his fangs to snap the rope suspending her. He carried his victim off to his cell by the ropes still binding her, escorted by his companion the goat. The third one simply returned to his cell now that the event was over. When the usual Shinigami prisoners were released to clean up the mess, she noticed they looked more subdued than fearful.

 _Do they know her? Where they friend's?_ she couldn't help but to wonder. "I don't understand," she whispered.

"Shinigami and Hollows do not go into heat very often, and even when they do the chances of conceiving are low. But for some reason, perhaps something to do with the attraction of positive and negative energy, when a hollow mates with a shinigami that is in heat, there is over a ninety percent success rate," Starrk answered solemnly.

"Is that why there are no female hollows here? Are Shinigami men forced to mate with them when they go into heat?" she asked.

"Do we look like women?" Grimmjow grunted.

Starrk sighed at Grimmjow's response. "We don't know. We have only ever seen this part of the facility. The only way to get out of here is to be killed, or be changed into, or back into, an Arrancar by Yhwach."

"And the only time he does that is if you give him offspring to use as weapons," Grimmjow grunted.

Karin felt her mouth go dry. She swallowed a few times to wet it before daring to speak again. "You mean the only way to get out of here is to rape someone?"

"Pretty much," Grimmjow grunted. "And not all of us like the thought of tainting our genes with a shinigami bitch."

"Have you been offered the chance to rape someone?" she asked more bitterly than she intended.

"Five times for me so far," he grunted. "I ain't a quincy dog," he growled.

"Fourteen for me," Starrk offered. "I am not into rape," he added barely loud enough for Karin to hear.

The sound of the gate opening behind her caused her to whip her head about to see the young boy that usually delivered her food and took away her waste delivering the three evening bowls. Tears marred his face and he was barely paying her any attention.

"Hey," she offered tentatively.

The boy jumped and splashed some of the water. Frightened and sad blue eyes stared at her. "Umm… hi," he returned tentatively.

"You doing all right?" she asked him.

He nodded his head but she doubted he was being truthful. A moment later he shook his head and tears flowed freely down his face. "Mimi-san didn't deserve something like that," he whispered sadly.

So, she was right, the boy had known the victim. Before she could offer any form of comfort, a whip cracked; causing them both to jump.

"Get back to work rat, unless you want to be the next one in the pit," a guard snarled, the same one that had tossed her into the pit she noted sourly.

The young boy scrambled to obey, wiping his tears away quickly. Karin scowled at the guard, who just grinned at her as he stalked by doing his rounds. "Fucker," she muttered in his wake.

The middle door didn't open so she had to use her bone to pull the three bowls towards her. She stared at her food before just sighing and handing the whole thing off to Grimmjow. One missed meal wasn't going to hurt her. He'd been surprisingly silent during her exchange with the unknown shinigami. Given what she knew of him, she half expected some sort of tell off or snide comment for showing compassion to another.

When the lights went out she crawled into her little nest, but found herself unable to sleep. It may have just been her imagination, but she could swear she could hear soft, broken sobs drifting across the pit. Suddenly, a lot of the other sounds she heard during the night, and the phrase 'playing with their pets,' took on an all new meaning.

* * *

Karin didn't sleep well for a few nights after that horror show. It hardly bothered him any, but he did keep an eye out to make sure she ate. Starrk was the one that talked to her about it, the sentimental old coot. He wasn't into rape but he was hardly disturbed by it. It happened a lot in Hueco Mundo and a good amount of it wasn't even traditional sex partners. When the only things to do was, as they'd discussed at the beginning; hunt, sleep and fuck, one didn't get too choosy over partners. Fortunately, Karin didn't turn into a blubbering mess over the matter, but she was definitely subdued. Today was another show day and it would finally be his turn to feed; unless they planned on skipping him for not killing Karin as some sort of punishment.

His eyes snapped open and his head up when the scent of blood reached his nose. Karin had her back to him but there was no mistaking the direction where the scent was coming from. He rose to his paws and moved over in three, quick steps. Her breathing was deep indicating she was still asleep. Her slumber allied some of his concern. For a moment, he thought that she might have tried to end her life using the sharpened end of her bone, but the bone was right there beside her and blood free. Now that he was closer he could tell that the blood seemed to be coming from around her waist. A heavy sniff led him between her legs.

"Fucking hell!" Karin leaped awake and swung her bone at him. The mace like end connected solidly with the side of his head and he saw stars for a moment as he backed away, pawing at the wound and trying to make the stars dancing in his eyes stop. "What the hell do you think you are doing?" she demanded sharply, brandishing her weapon at him as she rose to her feet.

"I can smell your blood," he growled while continuing to rub at the spot she had nailed. _That was a damn good hit,_ he admitted to himself.

"Blood?" she demanded. "Do I look like… oh, shit," she cursed.

"Are you wounded internally?" he demanded.

"No. If you are smelling blood from below it probably means my menstrual cycle must be coming on, and me without any tampons," she groaned.

"Ahhhh. Her womb is cleansing itself of the unfertilized eggs," Starrk helpfully supplied.

That made sense. It happened far less frequently for hollow females, but it did happen if they didn't find a mate during their heat cycle or failed to conceive.

Karin turned her back to him and probed between her legs. "Doesn't look like I am bleeding yet. I will have to ask someone if I can get pads or something. If not, is there a better corner to be miserable in for a week and burry the blood?" she asked with a sigh. "Seriously, how did woman of the old ages deal with this crap."

"Uh… the pit side," he offered.

"That will do. Until then, maybe I can use some of the material from my pants as makeshift pads. It will make me a bit colder, but at least I won't be soaked and coated in menstrual blood. Can I borrow your claws?" she requested while taking her pants off to reveal black panties. Not that he noticed what colour they were or anything and he _definitely_ wasn't looking. She didn't seem the least bit self-conscious about being half naked around him.

He laid down and extended the claws on this left paw. Karin kneeled before him and together they managed to cut the bottom of her pants off from the knees down. Those they sliced into five-inch rectangles, one of which she folded and stuffed into her underwear while muttering something about black being a good colour to hide stains before pulling her modified pants back on.

Fortunately, when breakfast was delivered and Karin made her request for pads, the boy seemed to understand the situation and promised he would see if something could be found. Karin ate most of her meal this time, giving the meat to him despite the fact it _was_ chicken this time. When the noise from above indicated show time was about to start, she let out a sigh and joined him by the entrance into the pit.

"You haven't been fed in a while and if I am reading the rotation right, there is a good chance your turn will be today, right?" she asked.

"Yes," he answered. "I cannot afford to miss another meal, unless you want me to eat you instead."

"Almost tempting, but my death would hardly spare another or do any good. Just promise me you will make it quick."

"Stay close to Starrk's cell," he ordered, not bothering to promise something he couldn't guarantee.

The first prey was dropped into the pit and the cell to his right was opened. The poor woman barely had time to register where the threat was coming from before she was killed. Karin watched silently by his side. When the next prisoner was tossed down, a rather old male by the looks of it, his own bars rose. Karin stepped out with him and moved over to stand by Starrk's cell. The man looked at her hopefully and this time she did look away.

The old seemed to almost always be more calm than the young and the man turned to face him as he stalked up to his prey. Grimmjow briefly wondered where the Quincy had picked this one up for he looked like he should have been in retirement, not on a battlefield.

"Hollows do what hollows do," the old man mused as Grimmjow stopped before him. "What will it be like being a part of you a wonder?"

"Starrk says it's like taking a long sleep," he shrugged, thankful for the lack of screaming and whimpering. It wouldn't have bothered him any but he did have to share a cell with Karin and having her upset with him would make the space even more unpleasant.

"A long sleep eh? I can do with one of those. I would appreciate it if you could at last make it quick."

Grimmjow moved forward and settled his large paw on the man's shoulder. With a hard swipe of the other, the man's head snapped to the side and he fell lifeless to the ground. He settled into his meal, unable to resist the urge to glance at Karin out of the corner of his eye. She was watching him eat with a determined expression on her face. There was nothing she could have done to save this man. If not him another would have eaten the prisoner. He felt the man's soul and meagre power settle easily into his own, drifting down with the rest that slumbered while he reigned over this collection. He could hardly remember a meal that had settled so well but the man had seemed at peace with dying.

He gathered the clothing in his teeth and moved back to his cell. He set the new material into his nest while Karin watched the rest of the feedings, a blank expression on her face. When it was done, her evening meal was delivered, as were a handful of what looked like swabs of cotton.

"Just put them in the waste bowl when they are used."

"I will, thanks."

The lad scurried off to his next task before he could be yelled at again. It was no wonder the boy had survived for so long; he knew how to keep his head down and become ignored by those far stronger than him. It was a wise tactic and one that let him get into places and learn things most others wouldn't. _Wonder what kind of knowledge he's managed to gather in the time we have been here,_ Grimmjow mused to himself.

Karin ate her dinner, offering him the meat and a quarter of the water. She drank half and used the other half to give herself something resembling a sponge bath with the scraps they had made from her pants. She hung the cloth on the bars to dry and returned the bowls to the safety cage to be collect on the next round.

"What's it like, having hundreds of souls inside you head?" she asked after the lights had gone out and they were in bed.

"Depends on the souls and the hollow. The more emotional connection the soul has with you, the longer it takes to tame it. Stronger souls can give you a good fight and even take over if you are not careful, putting you into slumber," he answered after giving it a moment to gather his thoughts.

"Were you always the dominate soul?"

"Fuck yeah," he grinned at her despite the fact she couldn't see it. "If you are worried about the old man, don't be. One of the more peaceful additions to my collection I must say. Floated right on down to slumber."

His sharp hearing picked up her soft sigh of relief. He had almost fallen into slumber when she spoke again. "If I ever asked you to eat me and spare another, would you do it?" she asked softly.

"Maybe, if only to see your brother's face when I tell him," he chuckled. "Better make the request worth it though, because if the person you want to save is annoying as hell, I will eat them in the end anyway. Evil hollow, remember?"

"From what I have learned here, hollows are no more evil than a feral dog," she rebuked. "Most are rabid and beyond saving, but not at fault for being what they are, while a few can be salvaged."

"An interesting denotation," Starrk mused from his cell. "And one I find oddly fitting," he chuckled.

"Speak of yourself, mangy mutt. I don't know any cat that has ever been fully tamed," he snorted, affronted at the mere thought of it.

"Well, there are more records of big cats attacking their handlers than wolves," Karin admitted. "Quite a few countries with wolves don't even have records of wolf attacks by healthy animals. The few records there are contain individuals that were half dog, had rabies or some other disease, were badly injured, or were frequently fed and socialized with humans."

"I am a coyote, not a wolf," Starrk corrected her.

"Might be where the whole 'wolf attack' came from, or at least, most of them. Coyotes do have a reputation of attacking people if I recall right," she mused.

"Perhaps," Starrk agreed. "If there was another way to avoid regressing, we would not be eating the food being tossed into the arena."

"I know," she sighed. "I don't like it, but at least their souls are merely sleeping within your own and are not being completely obliterated from existence. Even the others make the kills quick from what I have seen so far."

 _Well at least she isn't trying to preach about there being a better way. Her brother could take a page or ten out of her book. I had to listen to him whine for a week at the start about me hunting others. Had to explain it to him over a dozen times before I got it through his thick skull. Granted, it probably helps that she hasn't recognised any of them yet, nor is she one of them._

* * *

She was extremely thankful the boy who delivered her meals had been able to find the cotton swabs. They were not as good as tampon or pads, but they worked and the scraps they had torn from her pants combined with the water delivered three times a day helped keep her relatively clean.

 _Now all I need is a toothbrush, some toothpaste, and a hair bush,_ she mused. _I wonder if I can even salvage my hair at this point. It's basically one giant, sand caked, bird's nest. My breath must be not so pleasant and my teeth feel so greasy._

Grimmjow let out a yawn and stretch beside her as he rose, revealing fangs larger than most knives she's ever seen and claws that were just as wicked looking. A commotion in the pit drew her attention and she watched as several of the shinigami prisoners with rakes, wheelbarrows of sand and empty buckets moved towards the cells. The middle bars actually rose instead of the small door clicking open.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Cleaning day. They do it once a month," Grimmjow answered as he picked up his bedding one garment at a time, gave it a good shake to flick out as much sand as he could and moved it to the middle section.

"Want some help?" she asked, rising to her feet.

"Sure."

She helped him shake the sand out of the uniforms and move them. Most of the clothes were from shinigami shihakusho, but there was a good mix of quincy uniforms too, much to her satisfaction.

"Can you please move to the inner cage," a shy voice requested as she was setting down her own piece of bedding. Karin turned to see the lad who fed her standing before their bars clutching a rake and looking at them shyly.

"Of course," Karin agreed easily as she followed Grimmjow into the middle cage. She did notice that another prisoner in the inner ring hit a switch and the middle bars fell while the boy reached up and to the side on the arena end and the doors opened.

 _Now ain't that interesting,_ she mused. _I wonder if it's a physical switch or something electrical. Are the switches locked out when they are not cleaning the cell? I can't see any reason why they would be. It's not like the shinigami are going to let the hollows out to eat them nor can I see any of the hollows releasing the others. What good would it do anyway?_

There was not a lot of space in the middle section, but it was more than enough for the two of them to sit comfortably. Given what she'd seen of the other hollows, she wondered how they could comfortably fit between the bars. The boy started at the back, watching Grimmjow carefully, but not fearfully, as he raked out the majority of the sand. She couldn't help but to wonder how many had ended up as hollow food when they hadn't been paying attention to the beast on the other side of the bars. With most of the sand removed, she could see now the middle section was raised slightly and only a very thin layer of sand was over the sandstone floor.

"How long have you been here?" she asked.

"Um… a few years I think," he answered.

"Wow, that long?"

He nodded his head.

"My name is Karin, what's yours?" she asked.

"Hana…" the rest of his response was cut off by the crack of a whip and the boy jumped in fear and pain.

"No talking slave, unless you want to be the next one into the pit," the same guard that had thrown _her_ into the pit threatened Hana with a snarl.

"Fuck off asshole," she snapped at him.

The man froze and turned to face her. Hana inched carefully away from the growing confrontation, the smart lad. One of his hands rubbed the spot on his shoulder the whip had struck.

"You got something to say bitch?" he demanded, striding up to stand at the entrance of the cage.

"More than _something_ ," she shot back. "Pathetic assholes like you make me sick, throwing your weight around against people who can't defend themselves. Probably why you ended up on guard duty here, isn't it? You are too weak and a big ass cowered to be trusted where the _real_ men go. Hell, if they put you into a squad, the rest of your team mates would probably be killed within a day from your own fuckups."

"Shut it hollow whore!" he snapped, cracking his whip towards the bars. Karin didn't even flinch as the leather hit the mettle.

"Bet you would recognize a whore a mile away. Ever not have to pay for it, or are you another one of those wretches that have to _take_ it in order to get any because not even a whore would touch you?"

His face was turning a marvellous shade of red and she caught Grimmjow's claws digging slightly into the sand, most likely out of trying to conceal his own laughter at her taunts. Other than that, he was being marvellously still save for the twitching of the end of his tail, which was hidden from the quincy idiot with his bulk.

"Someone needs to teach you a lesson in respect bitch," the guard snarled, stepping into the cage and marching up to her. She leaned casually against the wall right in front of the bars.

"Well it certainly shouldn't be you. I doubt you have an iota of intelligence in that empty skull of yours, let alone anything that could be taught. You are one of those men that have naked pictures of slaves hung up on the ceiling of his bunk since it's the closest you will ever get to being laid, aren't you?"

"Bitch!" he snarled.

Karin smirked as he threw a punch at her through the bars. She dodged the strike and grabbed his arm, holding him in place. Fury turned to abject terror as he realized his mistake far too late. Grimmjow, who'd been completely stationary and forgotten, moved quickly to clamp his fangs on the arm she was holding. The man screamed before it turned into a gurgling mess as Grimmjow's claws found his throat through the bars. A savage yank of his head had the dead man's arm detached from the body, sending blood spraying everywhere. He settled down to enjoy his snack, taking his time stripping the flesh away after removing the tattered remains of the sleeve.

"Like I said, dumb ass idiot," Karin snorted, casually wiping a few drops of blood from her face. _Alright, that was gross. I can't wait to wipe this shit off, but first I got a display to put on._

Hana stood there watching with his hands clutching his rake. Oddly enough, he didn't seem too disturbed by the violence for someone who was so shy. Yells and all sorts of other commotion occurred and before long three other guards were standing at the entrance to their cell. Grimmjow snagged his prey with his claws and pulled the corpse flush to the bars. He growled threateningly at the intruders, just daring them to try and take the body from him.

"What happened here?" the guard with a golden cord around his left shoulder commanded in a rather firm voice that proved he, at least, had earned his rank. The other two couldn't keep their eyes off their dead comrade.

"Idiot got too close to the bars mouthing off," Karin answered with a shrug.

"This true?" he demanded of Hana.

"Yes sir," the boy answered dutifully.

"Told that idiot his attitude was going to get him killed one of these days," left flanking guard muttered.

Gold cord frowned, but didn't reprimand lefty for speaking, nor did he deny the fact.

"Shall we retrieve his body?" the other guard asked.

Grimmjow let out a feral growl around the flesh in his mouth and the two flunkies took a step back, hands reaching for the blades on their hips. Gold cord didn't even adjust his gaze or flinch at the threat.

"I don't know near as much about hollows as I do about wild cats, but I am pretty certain trying to remove their food is a good way to lose an arm or leg yourself. I am not going to be stupid enough to try, but be my guest." She gestured to the corpse crumpled against the bar hooked in Grimmjow's claws.

The two flanking guards paled at the thought and glanced nervously at gold cord. He frowned before turning smartly about. "Finish your chores, filth," he commanded Hana. "It shall be interesting to see how you think of these beasts after tomorrow," gold cord commented to her before marching away with the other two flanking him, "when they are done with someone you actually know."

That comment caused her to frown. She refrained from calling out to demand what he meant by that, but just barely. _No doubt trying to bait me. The list of Shinigami I know is pretty limited and consist mostly of the higher ranks. Somehow, I doubt Toshiro or Renji or even Rukia would end up being tossed down here. Granted, most of that has to do with the fact they would suffer a worse fate than being hollow food since they would have actual intelligence these bastards might be able to use. Think I would prefer the pit._

"Would you like us to open the middle bars, Grimmjow-san, so you can finish your meal?" Hana asked shyly and politely, breaking her out of her musing.

"Go for it," Grimmjow smirked, removing himself from the bars so they could be raised.

"Got to say, that was worth watching," the shinigami in the inner ring commented. "Good to see these bastards get a taste of their own medicine."

"That's not a nice thing to say Harunobo-san," Hana admonished. "Unohana-taichou would be unhappy to hear you say such things."

Hana closed the opened end of the cage while Harunobo opening the middle set. Grimmjow pulled the rest of the corpse into the middle section before the two secured the cell once more and continued about their chores.

"Any word on the outside world?" Grimmjow asked after swallowing his latest mouthful.

"I am afraid not, Grimmjow-san. They keep us in the dark pretty well and talking is very discouraged, so it's hard to get news from any newcomers."

"Should be easier now with that bastard dead. Most of the others don't care, but you had him pegged down pretty good, Karin-san," Harunobo complimented. "Jerk liked throwing his weight around all right."

"You know each other?" Karin asked curiously.

"Brat was stationed at Las Noches," Grimmjow grunted. "Braver than he looks, or stupider."

Karin stared at the flushing boy in surprise.

"I was just doing what I could to help," Hana murmured. "I was taken during a raid," he added. "They deemed me too weak and pathetic to throw into the pit, so I have been cleaning stalls and helping with…" he trailed off, looking sadly at his rake.

"Brat's part of the healing unit, so they make him deliver the pups and cubs the bastards are breeding," Grimmjow supplied.

Karin felt her heart go to the boy. What must it be like assisting people he knew give birth to the hollow young they had been raped into having? She couldn't imagine it.

"It's not very pleasant," Harunobo added. "More so because of the reason behind the pregnancies. Most of the births actually go pretty smoothly. Still, it's a death sentence to any woman who has them."

Harunobo continued down the corridor to no doubt operate the bars of the next cell while Hana finished raking out the sand before using a broom to get the rest of it. He passed her a smaller broom and she swept up the red and white grains from the middle section out to the main section so it could be removed. Rubbing sand on the blood splatters on her skin also helped to clear most of it pretty well. Guards came and inspected the cell, no doubt looking for escape attempts or tampering that could threaten the integrity of it. They completely ignored the body Grimmjow was snacking on. When the cell was deemed secured, Hana refilled it with clean sand before securing the outer gate and moving on to another cell.

"Was he even worth the meal?" Karin asked as she moved the pile of clothes back into the main room so Grimmjow could clean the blood from himself and finish the last bits of his meal.

"Weak ass fucker was hardly worth the foul taste," he grunted. "Still, worth it," he smirked at her. "How many more do you think you can bait into my fangs?"

"Probably not very many, if any," she sighed. "He seemed like a real dick, easy to rile up. The others are probably too professional to be tricked like that and they will be on their guard for a while."

"He was probably one affront short of being fed to us anyhow, which is why they didn't bother to push the issue," Starrk offered from his own cell. "Still, that was clever of you," he complimented.

"Wasn't all me. I was just the bait that fool fell for."

When the evening meal came, Karin dared to offer Grimmjow a sponge bath, mainly because she could still see some blood in a few spots, like behind his ears. He seemed more amused at the offer than affronted and she used half of the evening water and several of the rags to give him a rub down. The little bowl was rather muddy by the time she was done.

She slept rather well that evening. While she knew she shouldn't take satisfaction in anyone being killed, let alone in such a manner, she couldn't bring herself to care in this case. She hated bullies and he'd been an obvious one. Besides, it was easier to dwell on a jerk getting his due than it was to dwell over the fact tomorrow was another feeding day and gold cord had taunted that one of the victims would be someone she knew. Starrk hadn't been fed the last round so there was a good chance he would end up feeding on this one.

* * *

Dear lord, where did the time go. I randomly got a job; never tell someone you are thinking about going back to work, three days later you end up working. I have been working very hard on my original story. The manuscript is going over a split and minor rework to make it not so darn long, which has a few bonuses. I will have two stories done instead of one and severely reduce the cost of an editor.

Thanks everyone who took a moment to leave a review.


	4. Chapter 4

_I am really starting to get tired of rice,_ Karin thought morosely as she stared at the bowl in her hands. As usual, she had passed the meat to Grimmjow and stuck with the sticky grains. _At least it is cooked right and not lumpy, crunchy or mushy. Still, I would love to have a bit of sauce of some sort. Something to mix it up a little. Anymore of this and I am not positive I will be able to force my body to swallow._

She opened her mouth and spooned another mouthful in before washing it down with water. The rice wasn't dry per say, but it was starting to stick in her throat. Even her body was starting to rebel at the same old food for weeks at a time.

 _I am almost half tempted to skip a few meals until I am hungry enough to want to eat anything, but that would hardly be intelligent and the last thing I want is for them to stop feeding me altogether._

Hana collected the three bowls when she was done, two now empty and one filled. She didn't envy whoever had to clean the latrine bowls. A diet of nothing but rice and water resulted in not so solid waste.

 _I don't think I have lost much weight yet, but this is certainly not a healthy diet. I wonder if the other women are fed the same meals or if they eat the meat. A pregnant woman can't survive on rice and water with only a bit of meat. They need vitamins, minerals, all that good stuff. You know, vegetables and fruits. Maybe they are being given supplements, that's a possibility. Still, they need far more than what's in these bowls and vitamin pills only go so far._

She turned her thoughts away from the lack of interesting food and towards the upcoming feeding session. "What do you think that jerk meant yesterday when he said someone I knew was going to be next?" she couldn't help but to ask apprehensively.

"Maybe one of your brother's friends got snagged," Grimmjow shrugged. "Dip-shit did comment he wanted to see how a human did against us when he tossed your ass down here. Not that there is any chance of survival without them being able to use their reiatsu. A normal human would have a better chance of survival against a pissed off jaguar than any shinigami has against us."

"That's not very reassuring," she groaned. "Why can't we use our reiatsu down here anyhow?"

"The walls are laced with some sort of stone. Not the seki stuff the shinigami use, that would drain our reiatsu and make feeding us to gain strength pointless, but it does stop it from being manipulated. It's kind of gives reishi a sort of oily coating and trying to grasp it just causes it to slip between your paws. It's like trying to capture air," he snarled in obvious frustration.

Karin closed her eyes and tried only to find that Grimmjow was right. She could feel the particles floating all about her, but when she tried to grasp them they simply slipped from her fingers. _Trying to grasp air is a good analogy. Even water is more solid and manipulative than this._

It was just after lunch when the stadium started to fill up again. She felt her apprehension rise as she sat before the bars, trying to see up and get a glance of the stands. The angle was just enough that she could see the first few rows of spectators across from her. Grimmjow moved to lay down beside her. She felt her hands clenching and unclenching as she waited for the event to start.

' _Someone I know.' Who could they mean? One of Ichi-nii's friends like Grimmjow suggested? They are spiritually aware after all and dick-wad did take me. I almost pity the hollow that would be unleashed on Tatsuki. She's a far better fighter than I am and would probably snap their neck easily. She doesn't need weapons or reiatsu to be a dangerous weapon._ A thought suddenly dawned on her and she stiffened. _They don't mean Hana do they? Would they throw him in here after talking to me yesterday? I just saw him a few minutes ago when he collected my dishes so it seems unlikely. I doubt they would toss Nel down here. I haven't seen any female hollows, or any hollows at all being put into the pit for lunch. It seems like they are held elsewhere._

The first person in the pit wasn't someone she recognized, nor was Starrk chosen to eat her. She felt guilt follow quickly after her relief that the woman wasn't anyone she knew. She shouldn't feel relief that someone was chosen to be murdered by a hollow just because she didn't know that person. There was one thing she could say about the quincy, they were not sexist. Three men followed the woman to their deaths. Excitement really started to lace the air after the fourth prisoner was killed and consumed.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Feeding frenzy," Grimmjow growled, rising to his feet. "They are going to drop a cage in the pit with several prisoners and open up more than one cell. Stay close if ours is chosen," he ordered.

"Right." She rose to her feet and grasped her weapon tightly, ready to defend herself if need be.

A cage was lowered into the centre of the pit with what looked like six women in it. It was hard to see if she recognized any of them, but it seemed unlikely considering the sea of black uniforms. Grimmjow started to stalk back and forth behind her, no doubt loosening his muscles as opposed to any form of agitation. She did the same, doing some stretches and giving her body a good shake to loosen it.

"Starrk, if you are let out too are you going to help us?" she asked apprehensively.

"I will assist you Karin," he agreed with a sigh.

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

The cage the women were in fell apart and the six of them huddled together, shaking in terror. Karin had honestly expected them to bolt like most of the prisoner had. More than a dozen cages opened, including theirs and Starrk's. Starrk walked calmly out and she moved to his side while Grimmjow bolted ahead, but not at the women. While most of the free hollows made for the women at various speeds, several quickly turned on each other with a good amount of hatred.

It was chaos within moments. The women were unable to hold their defensive line in the face of so many hollows, most of them twice their size, barrelling into and scattering them. Screams and snarls echoed in the pit and it was hard not to cover her ears at the noisy din. She lost sight of Grimmjow's much smaller bulk in the growing melee. A few of the hollows hovering on the edge looked her way, but their eyes shifted to the coyote standing silently by her side and they quickly looked away to either join in the scrap for the women, turn on each other, or sit calmly in front of their cages also watching the melee.

The confrontation began to die down a little, or at least spread out as territories and prey were claimed. Grimmjow was dragging what looked like a hindquarter of some unfortunate creature towards his cell; the rest of the body lost somewhere in the melee. The sand was kicked up, so she couldn't see through the cloud it was making very well. Something black darted out from under one lumbering hollow that reminded her of a polar bear, due to its white color and large size, and raced towards them. Her eyes widened in shock as she recognized the woman, even if she was absent her glasses. It was the white armband that truly gave her away.

"Ise-san!" she shouted while running towards the woman.

"Karin!" Nanao gapped at her. Despite the fukutaichou's shock, the woman didn't slow down as they raced towards each other.

Karin tightened the grip on her weapon as she ran. Two of the hollows were chasing after Nanao and Karin felt herself curse as she realized there was no way to make it in time to help.

Before she could shout a warning to Nanao to tuck and roll, a white blur flew pass her as Starrk raced ahead. The deer-like one skidded to a halt in a flurry of kicked up sand and quickly backed nervously away, but the ox-like one had his head down and was charging blindly. Starrk ducked to the side at the last second and darted in behind the horned head. Sharp fangs latched onto the ox's throat and it let out a bellow of surprise, followed by pain and terror as it tripped and hit the ground hard enough that she felt the vibrations. Karin skidded to a halt and Nanao ran pass her before also sliding to a stop and whipping around to come stand by her side.

"What is going on here?" Nanao demanded while falling into a defensive stance.

Karin didn't get a chance to answer as she spotted a jackal like hollow running towards them now that Starrk was tangled with his own kill. She pushed Nanao aside and brought the bone between her and the snapping fangs. She lost her breath as she was borne to the ground under the much heavier creature. It let out a muffled yelp a moment later and jerked its head away from her. Nanao stood by her side, her knuckled dripping goo. The jackal leaped away from them completely and Karin remained still as Grimmjow suddenly stood over her, growling warningly up at the jackal. Jackal snarled back, but wisely backed away slowly, clearly not foolish enough to tangle with the former Espada.

"To the cell," he commanded her.

She rose to her feet and dusted herself off while obeying the commonsense order. Starrk was dragging his kill towards the dens and Grimmjow turned to help him. Most of the sand had settled now and cliques had clearly been formed. Of the many hollows that had been released, four were now being eaten. Of the six women… Nanao was by her side and she could hear sobs from across the way of another survivor but was unable to see her through the bulk of the ram-like hollow that seemed to have her. Pain flashed briefly across Nanao's face and she hesitated a moment, before reluctantly following Karin back towards the two open cells. There was nothing they could do for the other survivor without getting themselves killed in the process. Of the other four women, there was no sign save for scraps of clothing. In a frenzy like this, the food was consumed quickly before it could be stolen.

"What is this place?" Nanao demanded once they were near the two cells and standing guard over the feasting hollows. Starrk and Grimmjow had pulled their kills closer to their cells and were quickly gobbling down the prey they had taken down while the two women kept an eye on the others. It was a wonder they didn't choke with how fast they were eating.

"From my understanding, they are using this place to 'train' and 'raise' hollows, as well as some sort of sick entertainment," Karin answered. "Prisoners are tossed down to be fodder and occasionally…" her eyes darted to the cell the ram had dragged the other survivor, "breeding," she added softly, unable to use the R word to describe the other horror that took place here.

Nanao's eyes darted her way in horror before turning back to watch the other hollows in the arena. Most had returned to their cells, complete with resealed gates. A few were devouring their kills as quickly as possible while a few others stalked around, no doubt hopeful for scraps. It reminded Karin of the documentaries she'd seen of lions and hyenas stalking each other to try and steal their kills. Up above the crowd was dispersing with excited chatter, though she did catch an undertone of disappointment.

 _Probably because Nanao survived, the sick fuckers. Seriously, who gets their kicks off watching people get torn to shreds? I am really starting to question the sanity of those that use to rule the roman empire, or at least, those that encouraged and endorsed the more bloody games. Chariot racing, nice sport, man eating lions, not so much._

She did catch sight of Yhwach standing at the edge of his balcony and looking at them with an unreadable expression on his face. She raised her hand in a one finger salute that had him raise an eye and, from the way his shoulders moved, no doubt included an amused chuckle at her defiance. Nanao had followed her gaze and her mouth drew into a grim line at the sight of the quincy king standing above them. Karin turned her focus back to the stalkers, ignoring the man watching them and gave a warning look to Jackal when the hollow moved a little closer their way than she liked.

Grimmjow rose from the remains of his meal, mere scraps at this point, and walked towards them. "She is not my responsibility," he declared firmly before moving into his cell.

"Huh?" both woman responded intelligently.

"You are cruel Grimmjow," Starrk sighed, "to leave me with the adjacent to the man who killed my Lilinette."

"You're the idiot that saved her," Grimmjow pointed out mercilessly, and he was right. Starrk could have easily tackled her to stop her from running off, leaving Nanao to fend for herself.

"So I did," Starrk admitted. "Come here, Ise-san. You can gain weapons from our meal's fangs and claws. Afterwards, you will apparently be bedding down with me."

Nanao looked between the coyote and Karin uncertainly.

"Starrk's safe, or at least safer than remaining out here with them," Karin gestured to the few remaining hollows that were fighting over the scraps others had already left or hovering, waiting to leap in at the chance of scraps. Jackal was watching them intently with his ears up. "Grabbing some fangs and claws as weapons is also not a bad idea."

"Fair enough," Nanao sighed before helping her to de-claw and fang the scraps that remained, with some help from Starrk's powerful jaws and sharp teeth. She hesitantly following Starrk into his cell and entered without needing to be coaxed.

The bars came down the moment all four of them were inside. Karin sat near the front, keeping an eye on the hollows remaining in the pit while Grimmjow settled down to clean the blood off himself. The jackal hollow was sniffing over their remains and pulling off what few scraps remained. Now that the adrenalin was over, the bruises and sand-burns she'd acquired from her meeting with the ground were making themselves painfully known.

"We thought that you were dead," Nanao spoke first. "Your sister called us in a panic after you hadn't come home for two days. No one had seen you or seemed to know what happened. I was dispatched to try and find you, but we couldn't find any trace of what happened. Your trail just disappeared outside of town."

At least they had noticed she was missing and looked for her, and now she felt a great deal of guilt for making Yuzu worry about her. First their brother, then their father, and now her. Poor Yuzu must be beside herself in grief and worry. Her entire family was gone, leaving her alone with what few high school friends she still kept in touch with.

"I was chasing a hollow out of my territory when some dickwad named Hashwald obliterated it and snagged me," she explained for Nanao's benefit.

"That would explain why your own trail continued long after the hollow's ended," Nanao mused.

"Yeah. Anyhow, he apparently confused me for one of Ichi-nii's friends and wanted to see how well a human did in this hellhole of a pit. Lucky for me, Grimmjow was the one chosen to eat me and after getting my but whooped a bit, we recognized each other and called a truce."

"You fared well for a human," her cellmate grunted softly, so softly she wondered if she was even supposed to hear the compliment.

"Now you know my rather sad, little story. How the hell did you end up here?" she asked Nanao. "I thought Shunsui damn near kept you glued to his side."

"Patrol mission on the outskirts of one of the districts," Nanao answered. "We were ambushed and most of the patrol was taken down before we even realized it was a quincy attack. They don't have any interest in the souls of the Rukongai and have never shown up there before. We were checking out reports of several hollows trying to find an easy meal. They show up there a few times a year and need to be chased out."

"Do you have any news of Ichi-nii?" she asked hopefully.

"He's still patrolling the sands here last I heard. He was pretty upset over your disappearance; furious I would even say. They moved Yuzu to Soul Society to be on the safe side, she is staying at Kuchiki manor, and the rest of your human friends are staying at Urahara's and patrolling in groups now," Nanao reported. "We didn't want to risk your disappearance as being a dedicated strike against him."

"At least Yuzu is safe," she sighed in relief. "You said you were checking out hollow rumours, when did those rumours start?" she asked suspiciously.

"A few days ago."

"Were there any hollows?"

"We found two, basic level ones, exactly as reported. It was shortly after we cleansed them the attack came."

 _I have never heard of the quincy using low level hollows, they are too unpredictable. Still, all they would have to do would be to set two loose and let them do their thing. Nanao may not even have been the target. I wonder how many prisoners have been captured in baited traps like this._

"Do patrols often go missing checking these reports?"

"No. A person or two may occasionally be killed in the line of duty and injuries are common. Why do you ask?" Nanao questioned.

"Just thinking about baited traps. I've seen a good number of Shinigami tossed down here," she added softly, mindful of the fact some of them might have been people Nanao knew.

"It's possible a few may have been taken that way, but we haven't noticed any increase in the reports." She got the impression Nanao was frowning. "What made you think about that idea in the first place?"

"Yesterday one of the guards taunted me over the fact someone being tossed into this hellhole was going to be someone I knew. I didn't even know that they knew we know each other. It's not common knowledge as far as I know."

"Perhaps one of their spies spotted me delivering letters to you one day," Nanao offered.

Further conversation was cut off by the arrival of dinner. She used her scraps of cloth and some of the left-over water to help Grimmjow get the blood off hard to reach places. She tried her best not to notice, or at least comment, on the way his eye closed halfway and he leaned into her hand as she washed and scratched behind his ears.

"Not a word," he growled, or at least tried to growl. It came out more like one of those happy growl/moans dogs give when they are happy and content.

"I don't know what you are referring too," she returned, giving the spot behind his other ear a good scratch despite the fact she had already cleaned it.

The lights clicked out almost as soon as the bowls had been retrieved. She settled into her own little nest and tried to get some sleep, but it was pretty hard with the memory of the feeding frenzy so fresh before her eyes. Starrk and Grimmjow had recognized what was going on right away, which suggested this was not something new but rather something that they had seen several times.

 _At least Nanao-san is safe, or at least as safe as can be given our current situation. Not that Grimmjow and Starrk are bad company, but it will be nice to have another woman to talk to and have someone I actually_ know _be around. It was clear they had meant for her to die out there. Hopefully they won't try to rectify that situation any more than they did with my own. Still, I can't help but to wonder how much longer they will let us remain as 'freeloaders' in these cells before they either kill us outright or simply stop feeding us. I can't see these bastard feeding prisoners that are serving no purpose to their grand design for very long._

Grimmjow let out a loud yawn and she heard him shift in his nest. Despite herself, she couldn't help but to recall how he looked with his eyes closed in pleasure. It was to that image she drifted off to sleep.

 _Good thing he can't read my mind or I probably wouldn't wake up in the morning._

* * *

Long story short, my power cord to my laptop snapped and a new one is stupid expensive. I managed to borrow a power cord to get a bit of juice long enough to post another chapter. I have no idea when I will be able to borrow one again or afford a new one.


	5. Chapter 5

It was terrifying being locked in a cell with five others and knowing that you were likely to die in the next hour. She really wanted to panic, but she couldn't. She was still their leader and she was not going to stop being that leader until they were all dead.

"Hold strong. No matter what we face, stick together and we might get out of this alive," she said firmly.

Despite the white faces of her five charges, they nodded their heads and stood back to back the best they could in their little cage. It had a bit of room, but not much. Their weapons had been taken from them upon capture and they had been separated into different cells. For some reason the six of them had been chosen to go into this cage an hour ago while the other four had been led away. What sounded like a cheering crowd came from below.

"Alright bitches, hope that fake god of yours is listening because you are about to be mauled to death," one of the guards laughed loudly.

The cage was lifted, and the floor folded away. They were lowered into a stadium with a pit of sand directly below them. Nanao felt her stomach plummet at the sight, followed by fear as the sound of snarling and excited hollows reached her ears.

 _Soul King help us,_ she thought in terror as the bars to their cage fell away, followed by the bars of most of the cells raising. She felt suddenly calm as death charged them. She felt a moment of pride at the women standing at her back as they maintained their circle until the first of the large hollows crashed into them.

With no reiatsu, no weapons, and nothing but their own bulk verses that of the large beasts before them, they were instantly scattered. Later she will be horrified at the image of one of her charges being snapped up by two different hollows and pulled in half. The sight of another one being swallowed whole with a third screaming in agony as she was crushed by the clashing beasts would flash behind her eyelids for many nights. Nanao was barely able to duck a swinging tail and had to roll away from stomping feet. She lost her glasses and didn't bother to try and retrieve them. Her smaller size made it easier to remain unnoticed amongst the fighting beasts and she eventually managed to find her way to the edge of the conflict. With no comrades left, her best bet was to get to a wall and pray for the best.

 _Not that it will do me much good,_ she thought grimly as she rolled under another tail and regained her feet. _I think I would have better luck fighting off a furious bull or enraged elephant._

"Ise-san!" The shout grabbed her attention as she raced away from the melee, her eyes meeting that of the young woman racing towards her. Shock rippled through her as she stared at a woman everyone had thought dead.

"Karin!" she called back stunned.

Another hollow ran pass Karin, the girl hardly even glancing at the Adjucus that was barely larger than a big dog. Nanao felt a flash of fear but the coyote wasn't heading for her and, giving the trembling of the earth behind her from what was no doubt pursuit, she wasn't going to slow down. Better the smaller dog ahead of her than the huge creatures behind her.

She ran pass Karin with her momentum before sliding to a stop and turning to face the young woman. Karin was standing in a defensive stance with what looked like a bone clenched in her hand. The Coyote, despite its smaller size, had one of the large hollows down in the sand with its fangs latched onto the throat. Another was backing off and returning to the melee with no small amount of fear for the smaller hollow. She quickly moved to stand beside Karin, falling into a defensive stance of her own that had been hammered into her at the academy. Despite the carnage, Karin seemed relatively calm.

 _For her to be this calm, how much of this has she seen? How long has she been here? Or maybe she is just putting on a brave face too._ The last thought came from noticing that her companion's hands were rather white around the bone she was holding like a weapon. _And what is going on here?_ She asked Karin that very question. Her answer was a violent shove she wasn't expecting, but it did save her life as a jackal took Karin to the ground. The only thing that had saved Karin's own life was the bone jammed into its mouth, keeping those teeth from closing on her face. Nanao took a step back and swung her fist into its eye with all the force she could manage behind her slim body. It let out a yelp and then leaped away as another Adjucus landed protectively over Karin, one Nanao was surprised to recognize as non-other than Grimmjow, Ichigo's patrol partner.

 _Seems like a lot of people we thought dead are proving not to be._

"Back to the cell," Grimmjow ordered once it was clear the jackal wasn't going to risk its life tackling the far more powerful former Espada.

"What is this place?" she questioned as she followed Karin to a safer distance. The answer horrified her. Raising hollows into power? Breeding? The thought was disgusting and terrifying given the larger size of the common Adjucus. Death would be far preferable. Hell, death was the result anyhow with the laws in place.

Grimmjow and the unknown coyote must have had some sort of pact, for the two settled into the meal the smaller canine had taken down and were gobbling up the meat as fast as they could. Karin stood nearby, her eyes scanning the others constantly and a sturdy grip on her weapon. Nanao knew Adjucus needed to eat to prevent regressing, and with so many vying for food it was wise indeed to eat as much as one could as quickly as possible.

With most of the confrontation now dying down, she could hear sobs and her eyes darted across the way to where a male sheep like hollow was herding Mihane towards its own cell. She almost took a step forward, but the practical part of her stopped her. There was no way she could get across the stadium to the other woman unarmed and lacking control over her reiatsu. She felt her heart clench as the Adjucus gave Mihane one last head but into his cell before the bars came down, sealing them both inside. Of the other four women that had accompanied her into this pit of hell, the only thing that remained was splatters of blood upon the sand and the torn remains of their uniforms. Later she would mourn their loss, but for now she had to be strong if she was going to survive this ordeal.

She was starting to get very nervous as the remaining hollows either finished off their meals or were getting a bit bolder about stalking around the ones that were still eating. Jackal was watching, not the hollows, but them with an intent she really didn't like. Grimmjow was the first to rise and walk pass them with the rather odd comment about her not being his responsibility.

"To leave me with the adjacent to the man who killed my Lilinette," the coyote mourned.

Nanao blinked and looked closer at the coyote. Now that she had names, the form made perfect sense. Coyote Starrk, the very man her taichou had faced off against during the winter war. It was clear he knew who she was even though they had never met. _Either Aizen gave his Espada info on all of us and he remembered it, or Karin mentioned it during her time here. Either is just as likely. I hope he doesn't hold a grudge against me for Shunsui's actions during the war or things can get really uncomfortable._

"Come here, Ise-san. You can gain weapons from our meal's fangs and claws. Then, you will apparently be bedding down with me."

She looked between Starrk and Karin uncertainly. Karin had been here far longer and was clearly on amiable terms with the former First. With some assurance from Karin, they gathered the fangs and teeth, split them between each other, and then she found herself following Starrk into his cell, which was conveniently beside the one Grimmjow and Karin were sharing. The first thing she noticed was the only thing in the cell; the pile of shihakusho. The nest was whiter than there should be and a better examination showed that there were several quincy uniforms mixed in.

Starrk settled into the pile with a sigh of content and closed his eyes. She didn't think he was sleeping, but he seemed peaceful at least and not likely to suddenly turn on her for a meal. It must have been later in the evening because after a short conversation with Karin, a meal was brought for her by a man she recognized from the 4th, but whose name she couldn't recall at the moment. She was surprised to see him, and he looked at her sadly before offering her three bowls.

"This meat looks suspicious," she muttered uncertainly.

"Hollow," Starrk answered with a yawn.

She stared at it in disgust and debated on even eating the rice it was sitting on. "Do you want it?" she offered. _If I must share a cell with him, might as well at least try and make friends. I wouldn't blame him for hating me just because of his past with Shunsui._

"I would like that."

She picked out the meat and held her hand out tentatively. _Not that I could really stop him if he wanted to bite my hand off, or take my throat out,_ she couldn't help but to think ruefully with no small amount of fear. He'd taken a hollow several times his size down with ease just an hour ago.

Starrk gently took the meat from her offered hand before returning his head to his paws. Now that there was no longer a life or death situation, she took a moment to study him while she drank some of the water and tried some of the rice. He looked like a white scaled coyote with only one blemish, a black mark on his paw that she realized was the numeral 1. A hole went through his body similar to the one Grimmjow had, just higher up along his back to line up with his ribcage instead of his stomach. His eyes were a lazy, almost dull grey when he bothered to open them.

She finished the two bowls and stared at the third curiously.

"For desert?" she asked.

"Bodily waste," Starrk answered. She couldn't help the blush that spread across her face at the thought of using a bowl to pee in with a male audience. "I will not watch," he assured her, even going so far as to shift so his back was too her.

 _This is probably the most embarrassing moment in my life, bar none. Okay, maybe not the_ most _as Shunsui has dragged me into a good number and pulled some pretty ludicrous crap on me over the decades, but it's definitely up there. I suppose I should be thankful that I am not expected to just go in a corner. That would get foul fast._

The lights went out shortly after she put the three bowls back in the safety cell and they were retrieved by the same man who had delivered them, sending her into pitch black. She barely held back a yelp of fear as her vision suddenly vanished, leaving her standing in the middle of the cell.

 _Okay, don't panic. It doesn't sound like Karin is panicking so she obviously expected this. First things first, sit down so I don't walk into a wall or trip over something and hurt myself. It would just be the cruelest irony to land on one of those fangs and have it stab me through the chest and kill me or something. Killed by the very thing meant to protect me, oh yeah that would go over so well._

 _Okay, listen. There, I can hear Starrk's breathing from my right. If I head left I should hit the other wall. Not a good idea to sleep near, let alone against, the bars. If I pull my arms into my uniform I can use it like a sort of blanket for now. Damn it gets cold in here fast once the light goes out. I don't recall any heat coming from the artificial sun. Do they turn the heaters off too when the lights go out or something?_

"The nest is over here, Ise-san. I forget Shinigami do not see so well in the dark."

"The what?" she asked intelligently.

"The nest. It is cold at night and it is wise to share body heat. Despite the history I share with Taichou-san, I assure you I will not harm you, nor attempt to harm you, while we slumber. For now, we are pack."

"Oh." _Well, he is right. It is getting damn cold and curling up amongst all that… clothing would be wise. Besides, it's not like there is much I could do to stop him from killing me if he wanted to. From what Shunsui reported during the war about their encounter, Starrk hardly seems like the violent sort._

"I will come to you. It would be foolish to trip on the sand in the dark and harm yourself. Brace yourself, I am about to touch you."

Even with the warning, she still jumped and let out a yelp of surprise as his cold nose touched her hand. Her hand returned to his head a moment later and she was thankful for the darkness that was hiding her blush of embarrassment. He'd even warned her! Starrk moved his head under her hand until it rested on his neck. His hide was surprisingly warm and relatively smooth.

"This way." He took a step forward and she followed his lead until she felt the edge of the nest with her feet. "Make yourself comfortable first. I can see well enough to find my own place."

 _Against the wall would be best. With it at my back and a few pieces of clothing, I should be able to create a little 'shelter' that should heat up with my body heat alone. Damn I wish I could see. It's bad enough everything further than ten feet away is a blurry mess, but this is just absurd. Would it kill them to have a few lights?_

She worked as she silently seethed, putting some clothes against the wall with two layers on the sand. She settled there and pulled more clothes up over her body. She put her back to the wall and pulled her arms into her own uniform. Once she was settled she heard Starrk move around a bit, adjusting the rest of the nesting material no doubt, before she felt his body rest against her. Warmth flowed from him into her and she felt her body begin to relax, despite the fact she was sleeping next to a very powerful hollow.

 _In his current shape, it's easy to think he's just a big dog. I don't get a sense of danger from him at all. He is so much like Shunsui in body language, despite the shape difference, that I can understand now why it bothered him so to have 'killed' this man. I honestly think Shunsui will be relieved to learn Starrk survived the war after all, and embarrassed at the same time._

 _Still, he is a hollow and he has no reason to truly keep me alive other than the fact that he seems to have befriended Karin during her time here. I have no doubt that he would eat me if push came to shove. Granted, I suppose becoming a part of his soul collection would be preferable to being annihilated from existence._

That thought brought up a new line of thinking, one which might explain these 'games' the quincy were putting on.

 _Yhwach is not stupid. Even he understands that destroying too many souls would disrupt the balance of the realms, causing them to collapse. It is one thing to re-order them, it is another to destroy them. By feeding us to hollows, then sending them out to be killed by us, he is removing a large number of us from the battlefield while sending all those souls back into the cycle. Those souls are no longer a threat to him or his, he doesn't need to worry about keeping prisoners, and any new soul being born, should he succeed, will be brought up in a world of his making. It's a rather smart way to re-train your captives without ever needing to worry about them not breaking or regressing. His troops get entertainment and he gets fresh slates to work with._

Worse, was the other implication Karin had offered. Breeding. As far as she knew it was strictly forbidden to have intercourse with a Hollow, a rather odd law considering the likelihood of it ever happening was absurd. Hollows killed and ate Shinigami. Most of them were so large that the thought of having sex with them was ridicules, not to mention their monstrous appearance. In all of her years with the Gotei 13, she had never heard of a case of anyone having intercourse with a hollow, or even considering it in a joking manner, let alone serious.

 _And yet, the law had to have come from somewhere,_ she mused. _The older days were far less civilized than today. After all, were there not pits hollows were once kept in to fight for our amusement? Perhaps the thought of breeding with them had occurred to some of the more deranged. Perhaps the offspring were uncontrollable or it wasn't worth the loss of life. Most of the hollows they would have held back than would have been low level, not the more level minded, higher rank Adjucus that are clearly being held here. Kami-sama knows the old system tried some pretty deranged things, like the original plan for mod souls. If they came up with the idea to use dead humans as fighting vessels, the idea to try and breed shinigami and hollows would not be that farfetched._

"I know it is hard to trust me, but you should rest. You were intended to die in the pit today, and there is no telling if the Quincy well let me keep you or not. They could decide to rectify the situation in the morning."

"What? Oh, it's not the company," she quickly assured him. "I am just thinking. My mind won't shut down."

"I see. What were you thinking about?"

"A lot of things. Karin mentioned that 'breeding' was something that took place here."

"Yes," Starrk sighed. "They wait until the woman being offered is in heat before tying her up and sending her down to be taken. I suspect the restraints are to prevent her from fighting or struggling and harming herself in the process over any fear that she will escape. Once bred, most hollows will protect the woman carrying their young violently. We so seldom go into heat."

"Shinigami don't go into heat," she pointed out.

"Do you not ovulate?" he asked confused.

"Well, yes," she frowned before getting what he was going for. "Oh, you can scent that?" she asked.

"Yes. I do not know how the quincy know which of your women are in heat and which aren't, but only the ones in heat are offered for breeding. The chance to breed is very rare on the sands and the quincy have sweetened the deal. Anyone who produces offspring for them will be rewarded by becoming an Arrancar and freed from here to join their army. I suspect they are than foolishly sent to their deaths," he snorted. "Not all women sent down here to breed are taken though, sometimes the hollows chosen will kill them instead."

"That almost seems like a better fate." There was silence between them for a minute or two while she chewed the thought over in her mind before daring to ask. "Have you been offered the chance to bred?" she asked hesitantly.

Starrk let out a sigh before answering. "Many times. Before you ask, I kill them quickly and consume them. Grimmjow does the same. We are not shinigami, but I am certain if giving the choice, they would have preferred death over what was coming."

She really didn't want to know, but she had to ask, "what happens to the women after they give birth and their… partner is evolved?"

"As far as we know, they are both moved out and he keeps her. I have never seen the same woman put into the pits twice. I know they survive the birth, for the births are done here in the centre ring with a large amount of ceremony. Once the healthy young arrive, the Adjucus is raised up on a platform pass the wards and is turned into an Arrancar by Yhwach. The family is than removed from the pits, never to be seen again."

"What if the conception fails?"

Starrk let out a mild chuckle, one she almost felt more than heard. "There is the irony. Even between hollows, breeding during heat doesn't produce offspring more than fifty percent of the time. Mates can go through several heats before succeeding."

"It's the same for shinigami."

"And yet, opposites do seem to attract. Of the forty-six women I have personally seen that were bred, forty-five of them conceived immediately."

Nanao felt horrified, not just because at least forty-six of her colleges had been raped by hollows, but because the implications of what Starrk had just told her were devastating.

 _Forty-five Arrancar! There are very few amongst the seated officers that can even dream of taking on the average Arrancar, and we would certainly have noticed that many being put on the field. True we have seen Arrancar amongst the soldiers, but as far as we have been able to determine, they are the remains of Aizen's army that the quincy recruited._

Nanao swallowed nervously and she felt Starrk shift beside her, no doubt to look at her as her own body twitched at the horrible thought that was reeling through her brain. "You said you believed those changed by Yhwach were sent to the front lines to die. Why do you think that?" she asked through a throat suddenly gone dry.

"What other use would the quincy have for them?"

"Reserves," she whispered. "Starrk-san, all the Arrancar we have faced so far are ones Aizen made. We haven't seen a single one on the battle lines that was new. Until now, I didn't even know Yhwach _could_ make new Arrancar. Kyoraku-sotaichou may be over protective of my physical health, but if we had any inkling to such knowledge, he would have shared it with me."

She felt the body beside hers stiffen. "While many are not nearly as powerful as us Espada were before Yhwach regressed us, many are at least of Fracción strength. Your seated officers were barely able to compete with them."

"Yumichika and Ikakku far surpass the average seated officer strength," she supplied. "I need to get out of here. I need to warn Kyoraku-sotaichou about what's coming at us." She shifted restlessly in place, for there was nothing she could do right now. Starrk even echoed that though.

"Rest. You are weary, and no doubt have many bruises and lacerations from today's scuffle. You cannot see in the dark even were the cell bars open." His shifted back to his original resting pose.

She had to get out of here. They were barely holding the lines as it was and the thought of another forty plus Arrancar suddenly joining the fray was enough to terrify her. While any of the taichou could take down a normal numerous, even they could be out numbered. The thought of four on ones with backing from the sternritter… she didn't think even Shunsui could survive that. He would take a few out with him, but he would go down in the end. If they lost their taichou class fighters, the war was over. They needed every ounce of strength they could muster, which was why Isshin had even giving up his blissful, mortal life to help. It was why spiritually aware humans were being encouraged to step up and deal with the hollows and pluses the Shinigami couldn't get to and were being deputized in numbers never seen before.

"Can you help me escape?" she dared to ask.

He let out a long sigh before answering. "There is no escape from this pit, save one. I do not fathom you would be willing to take that avenue considering the unknown outcome."

One way to escape, and one he doubted she would take. She couldn't fathom he was talking about death and hoping the hollow she was consumed by died to release her soul. _The only time anyone is taken from here is when…_ she felt horror well in her chest, _is when they are bred. A complete death sentence giving the law._

* * *

Thank you to everyone who left reviews. I've had to retype since no power cord still means I can't access my work :( I was able to email my original story to work though so I can work on that when not answering the phone.


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